@phdthesis{8577967,
  abstract     = {{Third-party certifiers such as credit rating agencies, classification societies or notified bodies certifying medical devices issue certificates attesting that a certified item complies with the applicable standards and legal requirements. Although the issuance of this certificate constitutes the performance under the agreement between the certifier and the entity requesting for the certification services, the information included in this attestation can and will also be used by persons with whom certifiers do not have any contractual relationship or even by the public at large. One can think of investors relying on ratings, cargo-owners requiring a class certificate before contracting with a shipowner or consumers buying a particular product covered by a certificate. As such, third parties using certificates need to be sure that they are accurate and reliable. A certifier has to be trustworthy and apply the appropriate level of care in performing its functions for the certification mechanism to work. Several recent scandals, however, have shown that certificates do not always correspond with the ‘true’ or ‘real’ value of the certified item. Some famous examples are the 2008 financial crisis and the role of credit rating agencies, the sinking of the Erika and Prestige and the position of classification societies or the involvement of a notified body in the certification of the defective PIP breast implants. Third parties might thus incur losses or suffer injuries, despite the issued certificate attesting that an item complied with the applicable requirements. Based on a critical analysis of a third-party certifier’s obligations and liability, the dissertation proposes some legal mechanisms to increase the accuracy and reliability of certification.}},
  author       = {{De Bruyne, Jan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{442}},
  publisher    = {{Ghent University. Faculty of Law and Criminology}},
  school       = {{Ghent University}},
  title        = {{Third-party certifiers : an inquiry into their obligations and liability in search of legal mechanisms to increase the accuracy and reliability of certification}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}