The Germanic Model of Liability for Diseases of Animals in Sale Transactions: Historical Heritage or the Dead Weight of Past Generations? Factors Affecting the Form of Legal Standards for Warranty

Abstract

The subject of the analysis is the Germanic model of liability for the physical defects of animals examined through examples in Europe. Methods of legal analysis and interpretation are used. Contemporary (Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg and Switzerland) and historical examples (Germany and Poland) are examined and described. The characteristics of this model and the historical conditions which shaped the current legal state are demonstrated. It is shown where particular civil law systems in Europe have maintained the Germanic model of warranty to this day, where other systems have replaced it with another model and what factors have influenced this. The analysis is comparative in regard to legal systems and oriented toward veterinary science.

Keywords

• civil law
• comparative law
• warranty
• veterinary law