Chances as Legally Protected Assets

European Review of Private Law/Revue européenne de droit privé/Europäische Zeitschrift für Privatrecht, vol. 28, pp. 375–406

Abstract

The doctrine of loss of a chance has been deployed by courts jurisdictions in cases presenting causal uncertainty for over a century. In both the civil and common law jurisdictions where it is applied, however, there is debate as to the precise rationale and scope of application of the doctrine. In this working paper we compare theories, cases and practices from four Western European jurisdictions: France, Belgium, the Netherlands and England & Wales. Our methodology departs from a more traditional institutional comparison. We move towards an argument for a version of the theory of loss of chance that could work across jurisdictions. First, we briefly outline the application of the doctrine in the four jurisdictions. Subsequently, we present a typology of current practical application across jurisdictions. Finally, we present a theory of loss of a chance that reduces it to its (logical) core: for a chance to be lost, itmust have been possible for the claimant to ‘possess’ thechanceandthedefendant must have made him lose this chance. Hence, we argue that mere ex post uncertainty on the existence of causation is not sufficient to justify application of the doctrine of loss of chance.

Authors 4

1. Françoise Auvray Aachen

   Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas · Leiden University · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   from Universiteit Leiden , C . Kahn from Université Paris Panthéon-Assas and F. Auvray and C. Borucki from KU Leuven

   KU Leuven

2. W.T. Nuninga Aachen

   Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas · Leiden University · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   from Universiteit Leiden , C . Kahn from Université Paris Panthéon-Assas and F. Auvray and C. Borucki from KU Leuven

   Panthéon-Assas and F. Auvray and C. Borucki from KU Leuven

   Panthéon-Assas

   Université Paris

   from Universiteit Leiden, C. Kahn from Université Paris

3. D.J. Verheij Aachen

   Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas · Leiden University · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   from Universiteit Leiden , C . Kahn from Université Paris Panthéon-Assas and F. Auvray and C. Borucki from KU Leuven

   Panthéon-Assas and F. Auvray and C. Borucki from KU Leuven

   Panthéon-Assas

   Université Paris

   from Universiteit Leiden, C. Kahn from Université Paris

4. Christopher Borucki Aachen

   Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas · Leiden University · KU Leuven

   Affiliation as printed

   from Universiteit Leiden , C . Kahn from Université Paris Panthéon-Assas and F. Auvray and C. Borucki from KU Leuven

   Panthéon-Assas and F. Auvray and C. Borucki from KU Leuven

   Panthéon-Assas

   Université Paris

   from Universiteit Leiden, C. Kahn from Université Paris