Compensation for Catastrophes

Large-scale losses caused by man-made or natural catastrophes (in the following catastrophic losses) have been rarely discussed 1 in Austrian law and if so under procedural aspects mainly 2 . The starting point of this research project is to categorize possible claims to give an overview of how Austrian law currently responds to such huge loss scenarios and how possible claims can be categorized. An interdisciplinary analysis of the functions of tort law and its interaction with private insurance law, compulsory insurance, social security, state-financed ad-hoc or ex ante fund solutions, and private funds or donations in catastrophe scenarios will be required. Procedural aspects such as the tools currently offered by both civil and administrative procedural law to handle potential mass claims need to be considered such as the recently developed group action for mass claims. Private settlement procedures as established by insurance companies or boards of arbitration also come into play here. Going beyond the status quo, an in depth analysis of specific problems of each category is to be conducted both in substantive and procedural law. Reform proposals of existing strategies are analysed de lege lata and de lege ferenda and herewith it is to be contributed to finding new solutions for Austrian law. The study necessarily needs to contain comparative aspects also, in particular in light of the ongoing in-depth discussions in the United States on how to handle large-scale losses in general and in catastrophe cases in particular. In short the purpose of this research proposal is to analyze existing mechanisms for compensating catastrophic losses on a national level, and to consider alternative ways of handling such loss scenarios both in substantive and in procedural law with a particular eye to solutions found in other jurisdictions. 1 For Germany already in 1994 H. Koch, Mass Torts in German Law in Jayme, German national Reports in Civil Matters for the XIVth Congress of Comparative Law in Athens 1994 (1994) 67 ff. In Germany already a topic of the Juristentag in 1998 H. Koch, Haftung für Massenschäden - Recht, Abwicklungspraxis, rechtspolitischer Handlungsbedarf, JZ 1998, 801. 2 See for instance Kodek, Möglichkeiten zur gesetzlichen Regelung von Massenverfahren in Gabriel/Pirker- Hörmann, Massenverfahren Reformbedarf für die ZPO? (2005). See further Project Description FN 111.