Statute of Limitations and Negligence in European Tort Law when Considering Cases of Non-Contractual Liability in the Nanobiotechnological Sphere

The article presents the basic results of scientific research of the features of the time limit (statute of limitations) and the establishment of cases of negligence in the process of occupational health and safety in the implementation of judicial protection against charges and compensation for harm in European tort law when considering cases of non-contractual liability in the nanobiotechnological sphere, which is important in modern conditions of mass production, distribution and use of nanobiomaterials, causing the emergence of new risks to human life and health, objectively requiring the development of new methods to ensure the safe existence of the individual, which are particularly important in modern conditions of uncertainty, caused, inter alia, by the threat of adverse consequences associated with the global spread of coronavirus and similar infections, some of which may have an artificial origin, generating, in turn, tort liability of delinquents (offenders), as well as effective methods of judicial evidence, including judicial protection, determination and compensation of harm (damage) caused by the adverse effects of nanobiomaterials. The subject of the study was the relations that arise between developers, manufacturers and distributors of nanobiomaterials and nanobioproducts on the one hand and a person (individual), as well as on the environment and legal entities, on which these types of materials and products have their own, including adverse effects, on the other, which in turn leads to legal disputes that require resolution, including the determination of the statute of limitations for their consideration, as well as the identification of manifestations of negligence in the production process., directly related to occupational health and safety. Logical, comparative, empirical, analytical, historical-legal, descriptive, and other methods of cognition were used as the main methods of cognition during the research. The scientific novelty of the study was the conclusions according to which, in European tort law, firstly, the risk of exposure (preventable or not) to nanobiotechnology should not be a reason for liability and, secondly, workers in the nanobiotechnology industry are not sufficiently protected simply because the risks are not yet fully identified, and preventive measures to protect health and safety do not have a certain effectiveness and, thus, do not meet the conditions of cost-benefit analysis.

1. Егорова М. А., Крылов В. Г., Романов А. К. Деликтные обязательства и деликтная ответственность в английском, немецком и французском праве : учебное пособие / отв. ред. М. А. Егорова. – М. : Юстицинформ, 2017.

2. Федулов Г. В. Безопасность как нематериальное благо субъектов гражданского права // Экономика. Право. Общество. – 2019. – № 1. – С. 48–55.

3. Construction Safety and Health. Workplace Safety & Health Topics // National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. – URL: https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/construction/ (дата обращения: 26.06.2021 г.).

4. Fogelman V. First Environmental Liability Directive cases from European Court of Justice // Commerical Risk Europe. – URL: http://www.commercialriskeurope.com/cre/190/57/First-Environmental-Liability-Directivecases-from-European-Court-of-Justice/ (дата обращения: 26.06.2021 г.).

5. Martin-Casals M. The Development of Liability in relation to Technological Change // Comparative Studies in the Development of the Law of Torts in Europe. – Volume 4. – Cambridge University Press.