2023-10-04 22:00:00
Under national law, corporate environmental responsibility includes three aspects. Two aspects were taken into account quite early by the law. These are the criminal and administrative aspects. A third aspect has recently been recognized, first by case law then by the legislator (law no. 2016-1087 of August 8, 2016): the civil aspect. Environmental civil liability must be understood as the obligation to respond to ecological damage, that is to say to repair damage caused to the environment, damage taken as such, regardless of its repercussions on people and /or on goods. However, environmental damage was not completely denied until this recognition. Indeed, civil liability very early on took into account derived environmental damage, that is to say damage to the environment due to its repercussions on people and/or property, which covers property damage. , extra-patrimonial, physical, linked to pollution. But the environmental damage did not constitute harm in itself. Due to its new recognition and future developments, environmental civil liability will be the only one studied in this article. This liability arises in the event of an ecological accident, that is to say in the presence of a sudden and fortuitous event having ecological consequences.
It will first be necessary to take an interest in national law by studying the rules for implementing environmental civil liability, the admissibility of the action for compensation and the effects of this liability (reparation primarily in kind and subsidiarily in money). . It will then be necessary to compare national law with European Union law. This does not provide for environmental civil liability but has established a system of compensation for certain ecological damage, falling under the administrative police. A connection must therefore be made between the two repair systems (environmental civil liability and administrative police) which complement each other. A place will also be given to the specific case of breach of the duty of vigilance. Such a duty weighs on certain companies under French law. Violation of this duty may cause, among other things, ecological damage (specific rules). Current national law and European perspectives in this area will be studied. Finally, examples of international conventions considering compensation for ecological damage will be presented.
The objective of the article is to show the growing development of environmental civil liability weighing on companies, reflecting a desire to recognize full environmental responsibility of companies (responsibility today accepted on all levels: civil (neglected until little), criminal and administrative). Such a development was not so obvious since it involves repairing damage caused to nature, devoid of legal personality. However, civil liability is an institution which was initially designed for damage caused to victims, legal persons. The contribution also aims to present the specificity of this responsibility, which is mainly to impose effective repair of polluted sites, guaranteeing real restoration of the environment and respect for everyone’s right to a healthy environment. Finally, the article will consist of showing the uncertainties and/or pitfalls of environmental civil liability.
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