Identification Of Causation In Environmental Tort

Nowadays, with increasingly serious environmental pollution, the environmental problem has become a global issue, which consequents on more and more environmental tort cases. Because the environmental tort case is different from the general tort case, the identification of causation between pollution behavior and damage is quite difficult. However, causation determines whether the environment tort of the polluter is established or not. Therefore, using appropriate methods on the identification of causation in environmental tort can protect the interests of both parties and embody the fairness and justice of law.Most of the countries in the world have their own methods to identify causation in the environmental tort cases. Germany and Japan are two typical countries. Among these countries, presumption of causation is the common method. However, there is no exact provision about identification of causation in the law of our country, which results to the phenomenon that different judges will use different methods during the trial. There are two main methods using by judges of our country. One is shifting burden of proof. The other is presumption of causation. The thesis introduces three examples. The first is Qu Zhongquan v. Shandong Fuhai Enterprise Co.Ltd., a responsibility dispute case about air pollution. The second is Yuan Kewei v. Guangzhou Jiafu Property Development Co.Ltd., a responsibility dispute case about noise pollution. The third is Zhang Hongming v. Suizhou Minfeng Enterprise Co.Ltd., a responsibility dispute case about soil pollution. These three cases not only new, but also typical. Thus they can give us a better understanding that how to identify causation in environmental tort cases.By analyzing and comparing two methods in identification of causation, shifting burden of proof and presumption of causation, combining with three cases, the author proposes reasonable suggestions responding to the existing problems that are recognized in environmental tort cases, that is, to establish the system of presumption of causation. It specifically includes three aspects: one is to explicitly regulate the system of presumption of causation in environmental tort in the law, so that puts the using of presumption of causation on a law basis; the second is to clarify the unified steps of using presumption of causation in environmental tort; the third is to perfect the system of expert assessor, so that makes the judge more rational on judgment of scientific evidence; the fourth one is to use different theories of presumption of causation according to different cases.