환경권과 환경소송의 현실

The Reality of Environmental Rights and Environmental Lawsuit

Environmental rights, Environmental suit, Limit of Admission, Burden of proof, Theory of Probability, punitive damage, Plaintiff’s Standing, Class Action, Collective Litigation, Environmental disputeAlthough its legal characteristic is constitutionally controversial, environmental right is definitely one of the most important fundamental rights regarding the dignity of man and human worth. Therefore, it is important to see how much effectively environmental right is being protected, and the level of protection can be estimated by inspecting closely the reality of environmental damage lawsuits. Lately, many attempts have been made domestically to solve damage from environmental pollution through lawsuits, but the fields of these lawsuits are still limited and the court decisions are insufficient to provide substantial supplement and prevention of damage to the sufferers who have instituted the suit. Although the court is accepting the legal principle of alleviating the plaintiff’s burden of proof regarding the connection between the harmful act and damage, this is only limited to several civil cases claiming for property damage. The obligation to release evidence of the responsible enterprises is neither being institutionalized. Moreover, it is not an easy job to prove environmental damage exceeding tolerance limits in a social atmosphere where economic logic is prioritized. The amount of compensation admitted by the court is extremely small and the standing to sue for environmental administration lawsuits is still difficult to obtain. In order to substantially relieve environmental damage, the introduction of class action system and insurance system of compensation for environmental damage should be considered, and various efforts such as presumption of the relation of cause and effect must be made to alleviate burden of proof.