Abstract: "Liability and Environment" by Prof. Lucas Bergkamp analyzes the role of law, in particular civil liability, in controlling environmental pollution and risk. In modern environmental policy, liability has become a popular instrument. In this book, Prof. Bergkamp takes a fresh look at civil liability for environmental harm in an inter- and transnational context. Over the last decades, environmental regulations have mushroomed, and liability exposure for environmental harm has expanded significantly. At the international, EC, and national level further proposals for onerous strict environmental liability regimes are pending. The "polluter pays principle," which is an articulation of the "cost internalization" theory in the environmental area, is believed to justify such liability regimes. Applying an instrumental approach to law, Prof. Bergkamp aims to redefine the role of liability in the heavily regulated environmental area. He shows that in the regulatory state liability for environmental harm is not required by the polluter pays principle, is an uncertain and unreliable instrument for achieving prevention, results in an inefficient insurance scheme, and plays a dubious role in adjusting activity levels. Based on an analysis of the basic characteristics of alternative legal instruments, Prof. Bergkamp concludes that civil liability should play a more modest, limited role in an environmental law system dominated by public law. Where deterrence is the objective, objective fault liability can play a useful role as a sanction for violations of applicable standards. Where deterrence is not the objective, first party insurance or other public law regimes should be preferred over liability rules.
Publication Year: 2001
Publication Date: 2001-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 36
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