Helmut Koziol

Israel Gilead

Herbert Hausmaninger

Alfredo M. Rabello

ThepresentcollectionofessaysisthefruitoftwosymposiumsofAustrian andIsraelischolars,thefirstofwhichwasheldinJerusalemandRamatGanin December1997,thesecondinViennainOctober1998. Thesemeetingstook placewithintheframeworkofapartnershipbetweentheHebrewUniversityof JerusalemandtheUniversityofVienna. Theypermittedastimulating comparativediscussionofinterestingquestionsinmajorfieldsofprivatelaw, suchascontracts,torts,familyandinheritancelaw. The21contributionstothisvolumeaddressimportantlegalissuesfrom differentperspectives. Theyinclude,ontheonehand,historicalresearch reachingbackintoBiblicalandotherAncientNearEastern,aswellas Talmudiclaw,andRomanlawasthefoundationofmodemEuropeanlegal systemsontheotherhand. Theydiscusscontemporaryproblems,mostof whicharenotconfinedtoaparticularnationallegalsystem;andtheyaddress questionsoflawreforminaEuropeanandglobalcontext. Theeditorsofthecollectionwishtothankanumberofinstitutionsand personswhohavemadethispublicationpossible. Financialsupportwasgiven bytheAustrianMinistryofScienceandTransport,bytheAssociationof FriendsoftheUniversityofViennaLawSchool,bytheRamatGanLaw College(whichalsoparticipatedinthesymposiums)andbytheHarryand MichaelSacherInstituteofLegislativeResearchandComparativeLaw,The Hebrew UniversityofJerusalem. Editorial supervision for the Israeli contributionswasprovidedbyProf. AlfredoMordechaiRabelIoandProf. IsraelGilead. OntheAustrianside,ProfessorsHerbertHausmaningerand HelmutKoziolsharedthistask. MichaelB. Dunn,HerbertHausmaninger's researchassistantattheCornellLawSchool,improvedEnglishlanguageand styleoftheAustriancontributions. Dr. RichardGamauf,Mag. VerenaHaas andMagretAItrichteroftheInstituteofRomanLawintheUniversityof Viennaprovidededitorialassistanceandauniformlayoutfortheentirepubli cation. Vienna,JerusalemandRamatGan June1999 Table ofContents ListofContributors IX Contract Law Berachyahu Lifshitz TheOriginsofObligationsAccordingtoJewishLaw . . Franz Bydlinski A"FlexibleSystem"ApproachtoContractLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Franz Bydlinski MistakeinAustrianPrivateLawViewedinTermsofa"Flexible System"Approach 21 Renee Sanilevici Force MajeureandFrustrationofContractinIsraeliLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Attila Fenyves TheInfluenceofChangedCircumstancesonContractsofLong Duration 59 Ricardo Ben-Oliel PaymentsbyBankingTransfersinPracticeandinLegalTheory 81 Daniel Friedman RestitutionofBenefitsGainedbyBreachofContract. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 TortLaw Reuven Yaron WrongfulActsandReducedSanctions:AComparativeSurvey . . 103 Herbert Hausmaninger RomanTortLawintheAustrianCivilCodeof1811 . 113 Herbert Hausmaninger TheThirdPartialAmendment(1916)totheAustrianCivilCodeof 1811anditsInfluenceonTortLaw . 137 Helmut Koziol CharacteristicFeaturesofAustrianTortLaw . . 159 Helmut Koziol ProblemsofAlternativeCausationinTortLaw . 177 Israel Gilead Causation,Riskand"EvidentialLoss" inIsraeliTortLaw . 187 VIII TableofContents Israel Gilead TheLimitsofTortLiabilityinNegligenceandPureEconomicLoss. . . 197 Family and Inheritance Law Gideon Libson LegalStatusoftheJewishWomanintheGaonicPeriod:Muslim Influence-OvertandCovert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213 Pinhas Shifman TheStatusofWomeninIsraeliFamilyLaw:TheCaseforRefonn. . . . . . 245 Wolfgang Zankl RecentDevelopmentsinAustrianInheritanceLaw:Comparedto IsraeliLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Wolfgang Zankl RightofSuccessionoftheSpouseandtheRelatives-AComparative Analysis 255 Shmuel Shilo RightsofSuccession:SpouseversusRelativesinIsraeliLaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Alfredo Mordechai Rabello OnGiftsandtheDayofDeath:Section8(b)oftheIsraeliSuccession Law5725-1965andtheDistinctionbetweenGifts inter vivosandGifts mortis causa 267 Codification Alfredo Mordechai Rabello WorkingTowardstheCodificationofIsraeliPrivateLaw:Between CommonandCivilLaw. . . . . . . . 291 List ofContributors Ricardo Ben-Oliel,Dr. Jur. (Jerusalem),AssociateProfessor,FacultyofLaw, UniversityofHaifa Franz Bydlinski,Dr. jur. (Graz),Dr. jur. h. . ~. (Salzburg;Munich),Professorof Law,UniversityofVienna;Member,OsterreichischeAkademiederWis senschaften;CorrespondingMember,AkademiederWissenschaftenzu GottingenandofthePolishAcademyofSciencesinCracow At/ita Fenyves,Dr. jur. (Graz),ProfessorofLaw,UniversityofVienna Daniel Friedmann,M. Jur. ,LL. M. ,Dr. Jur. ,ProfessorofLaw,TelAviv University;Member,IsraelAcademyofSciencesandHumanities Israel Gilead. LL. B. ,LL. D. ,BoraLaskinAssociateProfessorofTorts,The HebrewUniversityofJerusalem;RamatGanLawCollege Herbert Hausmaninger,Dr. jur. (Graz),ProfessorofLaw,Universityof Vienna;JohnA. EwaldDistinguishedVisitingProfessorofLaw,Univer sityofVirginia Helmut Koziol,Dr. jur. (Gr~z),ProfessorofLaw,UniversityofVienna; CorrespondingMember,OsterreichischeAkademiederWissenschaften; Director,EuropeanCenterofTortandInsuranceLaw Gideon Libson. LL. B,LL. M. ,Dr. Jur. ,FriedaandSolomonB.

Developments in Austrian and Israeli Private Law

Michael D. Green

Bernhard A. Koch

Causal uncertainty is a wide-spread phenomenon. Courts are often unable to determine whether a defendant’s tortious conduct was a factual cause of a plaintiff’s harm. Yet, sometimes courts can determine the probability that the defendant caused the plaintiff’s harm, although often there is considerable variance in the probability estimate based on the available evidence. The conventional way to cope with this uncertainty has been to apply the evidentiary rule of ‘standard of proof’. The application of this ‘all or nothing’ rule can lead to unfairness by absolving defendants who acted tortiously and may also create undesirable incentives that result in greater wrongful conduct and injustice to victims. Some courts have decided that this ‘no-liability’ outcome is undesirable. They have adopted rules of proportional liability that compensate plaintiffs according to the probability that their harm was caused by the defendant’s tortious conduct. In 2005 the Principles of European Tort Law (PETL) made a breakthrough in this regard by embracing rules of proportional liability. This project, building on PETL, endeavours to make further inquiries into the desirable scope of proportional liability and to offer a more detailed view of its meaning, implications, and ramifications.

Israel Gilead

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