Editing Strict liability (section)

{{Short description|Responsibility for consequences from activity despite absence of fault or criminal intent}}
{{Tort law}}
In [[criminal law|criminal]] and [[Civil law (common law)|civil law]], '''strict liability''' is a standard of [[Public liability|liability]] under which a person is legally responsible for the consequences flowing from an activity even in the absence of [[Tort|fault]] or [[Mens rea|criminal intent]] on the part of the defendant.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gray |first=Anthony |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9jgfEAAAQBAJ&q=strict+liability |title=The Evolution from Strict Liability to Fault in the Law of Torts |date=2021-02-25 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-5099-4100-1 |language=en}}</ref>

Under the strict liability law, if the defendant possesses anything that is inherently dangerous, as specified under the "ultrahazardous" definition, the defendant is then strictly liable for any damages caused by such possession, no matter how careful the defendant is safeguarding them.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Best |first1=Arthur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cORLDwAAQBAJ&q=strict+liability+ultrahazardous |title=Basic Tort Law: Cases, Statutes, and Problems: Cases, Statutes, and Problems |last2=Barnes |first2=David W. |last3=Kahn-Fogel |first3=Nicholas |date=2018-02-13 |publisher=Aspen Publishing |isbn=978-1-4548-9763-7 |language=en}}</ref>

In the field of [[torts]], prominent examples of strict liability may include [[product liability]], abnormally dangerous activities (e.g., [[Drilling and blasting|blasting]]), intrusion onto another's land by [[livestock]], and [[Exotic pet|ownership of wild animals]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hylton |first=Keith N. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lucrDAAAQBAJ&dq=strict+liability+blasting&pg=PA275 |title=Tort Law: A Modern Perspective |date=2016-06-06 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-12532-2 |language=en}}</ref>

Other than activities specified above (like ownership of wild animals, etc), US courts have historically considered the following activities as "ultrahazardous":<ref>{{Cite book |last=Emanuel |first=Steven L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oBbxEAAAQBAJ&dq=strict+liability+ultrahazardous%22+animals+ownership&pg=PA329 |title=Emanuel Law Outlines for Torts |date=2024-01-26 |publisher=Aspen Publishing |isbn=978-1-5438-0757-8 |language=en}}</ref>

# storing flammable liquids in quantity in an urban area
# pile driving
# blasting
# crop dusting
# fumigation with cyanide gas
# emission of noxious fumes by a manufacturing plant located in a settled area
# locating oil wells or refineries in populated communities
# test firing solid-fuel rocket motors.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wagner |first=Gerhard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rzIWNCCCvQ0C&dq=strict+liability+pile+driving+motors&pg=PA28 |title=Tort Law and Liability Insurance |date=2005-10-27 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-3-211-24482-1 |language=en}}</ref>

On the other hand, US courts typically rule the following activities as not "ultrahazardous": parachuting, drunk driving, maintaining power lines, and letting water escape from an irrigation ditch.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baldwin |first1=Scott |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvELN6E3-bUC&dq=strict+liability+parachuting+irrigation&pg=PA219 |title=Product Liability Case Digest, 2013-2014 Edition |last2=Jr |first2=Francis H. Hare |last3=McGovern |first3=Francis E. |date=2012-12-13 |publisher=Wolters Kluwer |isbn=978-1-4548-0984-5 |language=en}}</ref>

In the English system, in reality, responsibility is tailored to the evidentiary system: that is, to the admissibility of defenses and excuses capable of neutralizing the punishability of the actus reus; and therefore the different forms of strict liability can be differentiated according to the defenses allowed by the individual legal systems.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Licci |first=Giorgio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4xUgAwAAQBAJ&dq=licci+strict+liability&pg=PA295 |title=Modelli nel diritto penale: Filogenesi del linguaggio penalistico. II edizione |date=2014-03-14 |publisher=Giappichelli |isbn=978-88-348-4731-2 |language=it}}</ref>