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This chapter attempts to underscore the potential advantages to creating a special constitutional tribunal that is relatively detached from the ordinary judiciary. This is especially so in civil-law countries. Constitutional judges need to have a degree of “leisure” and “insulation” to reflect upon fundamental values, as Alexander Bickel put it. The centralized model offers an obvious advantage in this regard: the constitutional court can concentrate all its time and energy on checking the validity of parliamentary enactments and is, therefore, liberated from the task of ordinary adjudication. Many European countries bestow ordinary judges the authority to trigger the process of review; when they have doubts about the validity of a statute that is relevant to a case they are handling, they can certify a question to the constitutional court.

Russia is a civil law country. It is a federation of constituent entities (‘entities’). Laws affecting adults are made mainly at the federal level. Entities have very limited powers in this regard, such as defining the structure of public agencies responsible for implementing federal standards. The judicial system comprises courts of general jurisdiction (which hear both civil and criminal cases), commercial courts, the federal constitutional court, and (in some entities) regional constitutional courts. Courts of first instance are justice of the peace, district, and regional courts. The highest court with general jurisdiction is the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. District courts hear most adult protection cases, for which there are no special tribunals.

Italy is a civil law country. There is a single, state-wide, judicial system, with a number of divisions. Jurisdiction in civil law matters can be divided into contentious, non-contentious, enforcement, and precautionary jurisdictions. The Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) is the third and final stage in most civil and criminal law matters. There are twenty-six Courts of Appeals, roughly one per Region. Tribunals, often being the first and lowest jurisdiction stage, are located in most cities within the areas of the Courts of Appeals.

The Netherlands is a unified kingdom and member state of the EU, with a civil law system. The court of first instance is either the District Court (Rechtbank) or the Sub- District Court (Kantonrechter—‘KR’). KR is part of the District Court.

Japan is a civil law country. All adult incapacity matters are dealt with by the Family Courts, in over 330 places (including branches and local offices) across Japan. There is no role for administrative bodies. Adult incapacity matters are governed by the civil code and the procedural law of family matters. There are no official translations, but see section C for links to helpful material. Japan does not have a separate Private International Law code, except for the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws.

Denmark is a constitutional monarchy, consisting of Denmark, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. There is no single unified judicial system, and only Denmark proper is a member of the European Union. The Danish legal system adheres to the civil law tradition. Legal principles are organized into a number of codes, many of which were created through a collaborative Scandinavian effort.

Belgium is a federal state and has a civil law system. The law concerning vulnerable adults is a federal matter governed by the Belgian Civil Code (‘CC’). The competent court for adult protection matters is the justice of the peace court of the district where the adult has his or her residence, or alternatively his or her domicile, or for the person’s assets, the justice of the peace court of the district where the assets are located.

The expression ‘product liability’ is usually understood to refer to the civil liability of manufacturers and others where damage or loss is caused by products which fail to meet the standards claimed expressly or impliedly for them or which are dangerous or otherwise defective. Such liability may arise either in contract or in tort and both aspects are covered in some detail in the course of this work. A further aspect which is discussed in less detail involves the use of the criminal law. Relevant provisions may apply either to particular types of product or be of more general application. The former are referred to only in passing whilst examples of the latter include Pt II of the Consumer Protection Act 1987 and other measures concerned with general product safety.