Product Liability Directive (PLD)

1. Member States shall ensure that a claimant is required to prove the defectiveness of the product, the damage suffered and the causal link between that defectiveness and that damage.

2. The defectiveness of the product shall be presumed where any of the following conditions are met:

(a) the defendant fails to disclose relevant evidence pursuant to Article 9(1);

(b) the claimant demonstrates that the product does not comply with mandatory product safety requirements laid down in Union or national law that are intended to protect against the risk of the damage suffered by the injured person; or

(c) the claimant demonstrates that the damage was caused by an obvious malfunction of the product during reasonably foreseeable use or under ordinary circumstances.

3. The causal link between the defectiveness of the product and the damage shall be presumed where it has been established that the product is defective and that the damage caused is of a kind typically consistent with the defect in question.

4. A national court shall presume the defectiveness of the product or the causal link between its defectiveness and the damage, or both, where, despite the disclosure of evidence in accordance with Article 9 and taking into account all the relevant circumstances of the case:

(a) the claimant faces excessive difficulties, in particular due to technical or scientific complexity, in proving the defectiveness of the product or the causal link between its defectiveness and the damage, or both; and

(b) the claimant demonstrates that it is likely that the product is defective or that there is a causal link between the defectiveness of the product and the damage, or both.

5. The defendant shall have the right to rebut any of the presumptions referred to in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4.