Abstract :
The legal view given is with respect to the law in England and Wales. The most important point is that normal legal principles apply; there is nothing special in the eyes of the law about software in general or expert systems in particular. Thus one needs to look at the rights, liabilities and duties which arise in: contract, tort (in particular, negligence), and product liability (a statutory remedy). In examining the law one must also take account of the complex interaction between statutes overlying the common law and the Courts´ right to interpret statutes and their obligation to take account of precedent. Added to this, there is now the increasing impact of the European Community and the Consumer Protection Act 1987 which introduced the concept of product liability into the English legal system is a direct result of an EC Directive
