In the preface, the author recalls that his 2010 book Grundfragen des Schadenersatzrechts began with the proposition that a person who suffers a loss must generally bear it themselves: everyone bears the risk associated with their own goods. However, his subsequent engagement with questions of legal allocation and the protection of goods gave rise to considerable doubts about the widely accepted rule casum sentit dominus.
A closer examination of this principle led to the conclusion that several generally recognised principles have been neglected. Their consideration would not require a change to contemporary tort law, but rather its supplementation. The book therefore explores how the current responsibility-based law of damages might be complemented by rules on risk allocation, particularly in order to give effect to the fundamental principle of equal treatment and to develop a coherent overall concept of loss allocation.
Zufall und Schadenstragung. Zur Ergänzungsbedürftigkeit des heutigen Haftungsrechts
by Helmut Koziol
Jan Sramek Verlag, Vienna
Hardcover. ISBN 978-3-7097-0421-9
2026, 232 pp