Full Text of SB0233 103rd General Assembly
SB0233 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
| | 103RD GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2023 and 2024 SB0233 Introduced 1/31/2023, by Sen. Jil Tracy SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED: |
| 735 ILCS 5/Art. II Pt. 21 heading | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2101 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2102 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2103 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2104 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2105 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2106 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2106.5 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2107 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2108 | | 735 ILCS 5/2-2109 | |
| Reenacts and changes various provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to product
liability actions that
were added
by Public Act 89-7, which was held to be void in its entirety by the Illinois
Supreme
Court in Best v. Taylor Machine Works, 179 Ill. 2d 367 (1997). Effective immediately.
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| | A BILL FOR |
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| 1 | | AN ACT concerning civil law.
| 2 | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
| 3 | | represented in the General Assembly:
| 4 | | Section 1. Purpose. | 5 | | (a) The General Assembly finds and declares that:
| 6 | | (1) "An Act to amend certain Acts in relation to civil
| 7 | | actions, which may be referred to as the Civil Justice | 8 | | Reform
Amendments of 1995", Public Act 89-7, approved | 9 | | March 9, 1995, added Part 21 to Article II of the Code of | 10 | | Civil Procedure. Public Act 89-7 also contained other
| 11 | | provisions.
| 12 | | (2) In
Best v. Taylor Machine Works, 179 Ill. 2d 367 | 13 | | (1997), the Illinois Supreme
Court held
that Public Act | 14 | | 89-7 was void in its entirety.
| 15 | | (3) The provisions of Public Act 89-7 adding Part 21 | 16 | | to Article II of the Code of Civil Procedure are of vital | 17 | | concern to the people of this State, and legislative
| 18 | | action
concerning these provisions is necessary.
| 19 | | (b) It is the purpose of this Act to reenact
the provisions | 20 | | of
Public Act 89-7 adding Part 21 to Article II of the Code of | 21 | | Civil Procedure.
This Act is intended to remove any questions | 22 | | as to the validity or
content of
those provisions.
| 23 | | (c) This Act is not intended to
supersede any other Public | 24 | | Act. The reenacted material is shown as existing
text (i.e., |
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| 1 | | without striking or underscoring) except for the changes made | 2 | | by this Act to Section 2-2109 of the Code of Civil Procedure, | 3 | | which are shown with striking and underscoring.
| 4 | | Section 5. The Code of Civil Procedure is amended by | 5 | | reenacting the heading of Part 21 of Article II and Sections | 6 | | 2-2101, 2-2102, 2-2103, 2-2104, 2-2105, 2-2106, 2-2106.5, | 7 | | 2-2107, and 2-2108 and by reenacting and changing Section | 8 | | 2-2109 as follows:
| 9 | | (735 ILCS 5/Art. II Pt. 21 heading) | 10 | | Part 21. Product Liability
| 11 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2101)
| 12 | | Sec. 2-2101. Definitions. For purposes of this Part, the | 13 | | terms listed
have
the following meanings:
| 14 | | "Clear and convincing evidence" means that measure or | 15 | | degree of proof that
will produce in the mind of the trier of | 16 | | fact a high degree of certainty as to
the truth of the | 17 | | allegations sought to be established.
This evidence requires
a | 18 | | greater degree of persuasion than is necessary to meet the | 19 | | preponderance of
the evidence standard.
| 20 | | "Harm" means (i) damage to property other than the product | 21 | | itself; (ii)
personal physical injury, illness, or death; | 22 | | (iii) mental anguish or emotional
harm to
the extent | 23 | | recognized by applicable law; (iv) any loss of consortium or
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| 1 | | services; or (v) other loss deriving from any type of harm | 2 | | described in item
(i), (ii), (iii), or (iv).
| 3 | | "Manufacturer" means (i) any person who is engaged in a | 4 | | business to design or
formulate and to produce, create, make, | 5 | | or construct any product or component
part of a product; (ii) a | 6 | | product seller with respect to all component parts of
a | 7 | | product or a component part of a product that is created or | 8 | | affected when,
before placing the product in the stream of | 9 | | commerce, the product seller
designs
or formulates and | 10 | | produces, creates, makes, or constructs an aspect of a
product | 11 | | or a component part of a product made by another; or (iii) any | 12 | | product
seller not described in (ii) that holds itself out as a | 13 | | manufacturer to the
user of the product.
| 14 | | "Product liability action" means a civil action brought on | 15 | | any theory against
a manufacturer or product seller for harm | 16 | | caused by a product.
| 17 | | "Product seller" means a person who, in the course of a | 18 | | business conducted
for that purpose, sells, distributes, | 19 | | leases, installs, prepares, blends,
packages, labels, markets, | 20 | | repairs, maintains, or otherwise is involved in
placing a | 21 | | product in the stream of commerce.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 23 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2102)
| 24 | | Sec. 2-2102. Effect on other laws. Except as may be | 25 | | provided by other
laws, any civil action that conforms to the |
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| 1 | | definition of a product liability
action as defined in Section | 2 | | 2-2101 of this Part shall be governed by the
provisions of this | 3 | | Part.
| 4 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 5 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2103)
| 6 | | Sec. 2-2103. Federal and State standards; presumption. In | 7 | | a product
liability action, a product or product component | 8 | | shall be presumed to be
reasonably safe if the aspect of the | 9 | | product or product component that
allegedly caused the harm | 10 | | was specified or required, or if the aspect is
specifically | 11 | | exempted for particular applications or users, by a federal or
| 12 | | State statute or regulation promulgated by an agency of the | 13 | | federal or State
government responsible for the safety or use | 14 | | of the product before the product
was distributed into the | 15 | | stream of commerce.
| 16 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 17 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2104)
| 18 | | Sec. 2-2104. No practical and feasible alternative design; | 19 | | presumption.
If the design of a product or product component | 20 | | is in issue in a product
liability action, the design shall be | 21 | | presumed to be reasonably safe
unless, at the time the product | 22 | | left the control of the manufacturer, a
practical and | 23 | | technically feasible alternative design was available that | 24 | | would
have prevented the harm without significantly impairing |
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| 1 | | the usefulness,
desirability, or marketability of the product. | 2 | | An alternative design is
practical and feasible if the | 3 | | technical, medical, or scientific knowledge
relating to safety | 4 | | of the alternative design was, at the time the product left
the | 5 | | control of the manufacturer, available and developed for | 6 | | commercial use and
acceptable in the marketplace.
| 7 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 8 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2105)
| 9 | | Sec. 2-2105. Changes in design or warning; | 10 | | inadmissibility. When measures
are taken which, if taken | 11 | | previously, would have made an event
less likely to occur, | 12 | | evidence of the subsequent measures is not admissible to
prove | 13 | | a defect in a product, negligence, or culpable conduct in | 14 | | connection with
the event. In a product liability action | 15 | | brought under any theory or doctrine,
if the feasibility of a | 16 | | design change or change in warnings is not
controverted, then | 17 | | a subsequent design change or change in warnings shall not
be | 18 | | admissible into evidence. This rule does not require the | 19 | | exclusion of
evidence of subsequent measures when offered for | 20 | | another purpose such as
proving ownership, control, or | 21 | | impeachment.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 23 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2106)
| 24 | | Sec. 2-2106. Provision of written warnings to users of |
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| 1 | | product;
nonliability.
| 2 | | (a) The warning, instructing, or labeling of a product or | 3 | | specific product
component shall be deemed to be adequate if | 4 | | pamphlets, booklets, labels,
or other written warnings were | 5 | | provided that gave adequate notice to reasonably
anticipated | 6 | | users or knowledgeable intermediaries of the material risks of
| 7 | | injury, death, or property damage connected with the | 8 | | reasonably anticipated use
of the product and instructions as | 9 | | to the reasonably anticipated uses,
applications, or | 10 | | limitations of the product
anticipated by the defendant.
| 11 | | (b) In the defense of a product liability action, | 12 | | warnings, instructions or
labeling shall be deemed to be | 13 | | adequate if the warnings, instructions or labels
furnished | 14 | | with the product were in conformity with the generally | 15 | | recognized
standards in the industry at the time the product | 16 | | was distributed into the
stream of commerce.
| 17 | | (c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b), a defendant | 18 | | shall not be liable
for failure to warn of material risks that | 19 | | were obvious to a reasonably prudent
product user and material | 20 | | risks that were a matter of common knowledge to
persons in the | 21 | | same position as or similar positions to that of the plaintiff
| 22 | | in a product liability action.
| 23 | | (d) In any product liability action brought against a | 24 | | manufacturer or
product seller for harm allegedly caused by a | 25 | | failure to provide adequate
warnings or instructions, a | 26 | | defendant manufacturer or product seller shall not
be liable |
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| 1 | | if, at the time the product left the control of the | 2 | | manufacturer, the
knowledge of the danger that caused the harm | 3 | | was not reasonably available or
obtainable in light of | 4 | | existing scientific, technical, or medical
information.
| 5 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 6 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2106.5)
| 7 | | Sec. 2-2106.5. Inherent characteristics of products; | 8 | | nonliability. In a
product liability action, a manufacturer or | 9 | | product seller shall not be liable
for harm allegedly caused | 10 | | by a product if the alleged harm was caused by an
inherent | 11 | | characteristic of the product which is a generic aspect of the | 12 | | product
that cannot be eliminated without substantially | 13 | | compromising the product's
usefulness or desirability and | 14 | | which is recognized by the ordinary person with
the ordinary | 15 | | knowledge common to the community.
| 16 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 17 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2107)
| 18 | | Sec. 2-2107. Punitive damages. In a product liability | 19 | | action, punitive damages shall not be awarded
against a | 20 | | manufacturer or product seller if the conduct of the defendant
| 21 | | manufacturer, seller, or reseller that allegedly caused the | 22 | | harm was approved
by or was in compliance with standards set | 23 | | forth in an applicable federal or
State statute or in a | 24 | | regulation or other administrative action promulgated by
an |
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| 1 | | agency of the federal or State government responsible for the | 2 | | safety or use
of the
product, which statute or regulation was | 3 | | in effect at the time of the
manufacturer's or product | 4 | | seller's alleged misconduct, unless the plaintiff
proves by | 5 | | clear and convincing evidence that the manufacturer or product | 6 | | seller
intentionally withheld from or misrepresented to | 7 | | Congress, the State
legislature, or the relevant federal or | 8 | | State agency material information
relative to the safety or | 9 | | use of the product that would or could have resulted
in a
| 10 | | changed decision relative to the law, standard, or other | 11 | | administrative
action.
| 12 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 13 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2108)
| 14 | | Sec. 2-2108. No cause of action created. Nothing in this | 15 | | Part shall be
construed to create a cause of action.
| 16 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 17 | | (735 ILCS 5/2-2109)
| 18 | | Sec. 2-2109. This amendatory Act of the 103rd General | 19 | | Assembly
1995 adding Part 21 to the Code
of Civil Procedure | 20 | | applies to causes of action accruing on or after its
effective | 21 | | date.
| 22 | | (Source: P.A. 89-7, eff. 3-9-95 .)
| 23 | | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 24 | | becoming law.
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