美国通用航空产品责任限制制度及其启示

美国为振兴通用航空产业,制定了《通用航空振兴法》,确立了除诉期间制度,对通用航空事故受害人向航空器制造商提起产品责任诉讼设置了时间限制。该法案的实施效果表明,通用航空器的安全性并没有下降,而是得到了提升,并且,美国的通用航空产业也得到了振兴。通过对该法案的研究,认为:保障产品安全性的途径有许多种,而产品责任仅仅是其中之一;产品责任,既可以起到对制造商的威慑作用,也会产生增加制造商的成本,削弱产品竞争力的后果;对于通用航空器的安全性关注,重点不应放到事后的产品责任诉讼上,而应强调事先的监管;在监管体系非常健全的前提下,可以考虑对航空器制造商的产品责任的适当放松,以求得各方之间的利益平衡。

The Rule of General Aviation Product Liability Limitation in American Law and Its Implication

In order to revitalize the general aviation industry, the United States enacted "The General Aviation Revitalization Act" (GARA), established the rule of repose, and imposed the time limitation for the general aviation product liability suits. The effect of GARA indicates that the safety level of the aircraft has not declined but has been improved, and American general aviation industry has been revitalized. The study of GARA shows that the product liability is only one of the means which have been used to ensure the safety of the product; the product liability can deter the manufacturer, while it also can increase the costs of production and reduce the competitiveness of the product; the emphasis of ensuring the safety of general aviation aircraft should not been on the expost product liability suits but the ex-ante regulation; the legislature could moderately lighten the product liability of aircraft manufacturer to ensure the balance of the interests of relevant parties under the precondition that there is a very sound regulatory system.