Strict liability

Strict liability is the legal doctrine which allows a person or entity to be held legally liable for an injury without proving negligence. Strict liability cases are limited to very specific areas of law such as some product liability cases, care of animals, very hazardous activities and certain statutory offenses.

Under strict product liability law the business or seller of an unsafe product can be sued for damages for a defective product even if the seller was not negligent. Dog owners can also be sued if their dog bites an individual even if they did not have prior incidence of dog bites. Strict liability differs from other personal injury cases where the plaintiff has the burden to prove the damages were the result of the defendant's negligent actions and it was those negligent actions which were the proximate cause of the injury and loss.