Attempts to establish an Environmental Liability Act in Korea started in the early 1990s, following the German Act on Environmental Liability of 1990（Umwelthaftungsgesetz）, but this was not achieved until 2015（or 2014）. The direct trigger was a major environmental accident in Gumi province. Many people were killed or injured in the accident and serious environmental pollution occurred in the area. The company that caused the accident was shut down, and the victims could not obtain sufficient compensation. In response, the government moved quickly to enact the law. The Korean Environmental Liability Act aims to relieve the victims of environmental pollution and consists of six chapters and 47 clauses. It makes crucial provisions in two parts. One part is on liability for damages by the company, and the other is on government bailouts. These two systems are to relieve the victims of an environmental accident and the subsequent pollution. Environmental accidents have special characteristics. For example, it is difficult to prove not only the negligence of the party that caused the environmental pollution, but also the casual relation to the pollution. Without this proof, claims for compensation can be rejected. The Environmental Liability Act has lightened the burden of proof for victims in two ways : responsibility without negligence and the presumption that casual relations exist. These two issues have been discussed in depth among scholars. Now the Environmental Liability Act is highly regarded in general. The cases to which this act will be applied are not known, but this act is definitely on the side of victims.

(山田洋先生　退職記念 = Commemorating Professor Hiroshi YAMADAʼs Retirement)

一橋大学大学院法学研究科

2018-07-10

Japanese(jpn)

departmental bulletin paper

VoR

10.15057/29602

1347-0388

AA1161370X

一橋法学

17

2

41

65

17巻2号(2018.7)

https://hdl.handle.net/10086/29602