Gray on 'The Evolution from Strict Liability to Negligence: When and Why? Part I'

Professor Anthony Gray of the USQ School of Law and Justice has published a new article titled 'The Evolution from Strict Liability to Neglience: When and Why? Part I'.  The article appears in Volume 94(8) of the Australian Law Journal.  Here is the abstract:

"Tort law has, viewed through a long lens, moved generally from strict to fault-based liability. This move is not (yet) complete; pockets of strict liability remain. It is important to understand this move. Why, and when, did it occur? The questions, and so the answers, may be related. This article attempts some answers. Part 1 charts the gradual but perceptible shift in common law thinking away from “act at peril” philosophy to one where liability lies where it falls, unless fault of another is shown. While of historical interest, this shift is also of contemporary interest. Given that pockets of strict liability remain in our law, what
rationale, if any, supports them? If most tort law is now fault-based, why persist with any strict liability? In that context, Part 2 considers application of these trends in the context of the tort of private nuisance, traditionally a tort of strict liability."