Scientific Causation and Legal Causation – Evolution of the Concept of Causation on Objective Responsibility: A Comparative Study
Prof. Ahmed Ishraqia
Professor of Private Law
Director of the Faculty of Law, Political and Administrative
Sciences, Fifth Branch, Lebanese University
Abstract:
In principle, in order for tort liability to take place, three elements must be present: the damage, the harmful act, and the causal relationship between them. There must be a material relationship between the damage and the person to whom the liability-generating act occurred. In other words, it is necessary to establish a causal relationship between the harm and the harmful act. If it is possible for liability to be based on a demonstrable error, a presumptive or even just a harmless act, this responsibility cannot be established without a causal link. It must be noted that most of the legal scholars and legislators were concerned with the harmful act and the harm, and only a few of them were interested in the causal element. The first approach considers this relationship to be certain, and the second approach considers this relationship to be based on evidence.
In this research, we dealt with the historical development of the causal relationship and the most important theories on which it was founded in positive law and in Islamic law. We also touched on the distinction between scientific causation based on certainty and legal causation based on evidence in the case of defective products, especially in the case of medical products. This was done through the comparative-analytical method. We concluded that the causation required for the establishment of objective responsibility is legal causation based on strong, accurate and consistent legal evidence, as the judge, whether in positive law or in Islamic law, must form his conviction by extracting evidence as a man of law and not as an applied scholar, without inverting the burden of proof. It also falls on the legislator to perpetuate the social orientation of responsibility by integrating causation with harm, and this is considered more equitable to the victim and consistent with achieving justice.
Keywords: civil liability, development of causation, defective products, evidence, burden of proof