The Product Liability Directive of 1985 (85/374/EEC) (“the Directive”), which sought to harmonise a strict liability regime for defective products across the European Union, has now been implemented into domestic law by all EU member states. In some countries the implementing legislation has been in force for more than 10 years. Nevertheless, until recently, there were few decided cases, both in the United Kingdom and across Europe generally, considering in detail the often critical provisions of articles 6 (definition of defectiveness) and 7(e) (the development risks defence).

A landmark in German immigration law could founder on a technical point of procedure in the Bundesrat, the legislative body in Germany that represents the states at the national level. A bill acknowledging, for the first time, that Germany is a country of immigration won a majority of votes in the popularly elected branch of the national parliament. Introduced and championed by the governing Social Democratic-Green coalition, the controversial bill survived the stiff opposition of Christian Democrats, the minority party. But Germany is a federal republic and, accordingly, this bill, like others involving vital state interests, constitutionally requires the Bundesrat's consent.

The fourth section of the, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, in a judgment from 26 February 2002, held that the German authorities, in a case involving the revocation of parenting rights, violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The circumstances of the case are compelling: the painful separation of parents and children ordered by the German authorities in the interests of the children, followed by several years of hard-fought litigation as the parents struggled to reestablish their parenting rights over their children and to restore their natural family. The Court concluded that the interference in the right of private and family life was not proportionate to the legitimate aim pursued by the German authorities.