Environmental Pollution And Health Damage Compensation System

The health damage caused by environment pollution (HDEP), the product of the development of societies industrialize, has brought serious harm to human'right of life and right of health. With the industrial development of the western minority areas, it has been an inevitable trend that the HDEP is transferring from the eastern coastal cities to the remote western region. This thesis discusses the establishment of the institution of the compensation for the HDEP through examining and analysis the current situation of the HDEP and the compensation for the HDEP in one of the minority areas in China-Ningxia Autonomous Region. Taking Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region as an example, the thesis studies the causation presumption between the environmental pollution and health damage consequences, and explores the compensation subject, the compensation scope, and the special principle of compensation of the HDEP.The thesis is divided into six chapters.In Chapter I, the thesis makes a introduction of the HDEP. Based on discussing the law definition of "the environmental pollution" and "the health", describing the performance of the damage of environmental pollution on human health, the thesis defines the concept of "health damage caused by the environmental pollution (HDEP)", and compares it with "the Occupational Disease" and "the Endemic". From the perspective of the protection of citizens' rights to the environment, the compensation for the HDEP will achieve the relief on the environmental pollution damage.In Chapter â…¡, the thesis investigates the status of the HDEP and the proceedings for HDEP in Ningxia. Based on the analysis of the industrial structure in Ningxia, the thesis sums up the local environmental issues. To start with a research in a traditional heavy industry base (Hebin Industrial Park in Shizuishan City of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region), the thesis points out that the local industry has brought serious harm to the residents 'living environment and health. It is necessary to establish a more complete compensation institution for the HDEP, with the view of comprehensive protection of the victims'health rights.In Chapter â…¢, the thesis discusses the causation presumption of the HDEP. The causation presumption is the general method to identify the causal relationship in many countries. In China, the causal relationship has been provisioned as one of the elements of tort liability in the legislation. However, it does not provide a clear method to identify the causal relationship. In the theoretical study, the burden of proof inversion has been mistaken to the causation presumption by some scholars. On the basis of analyzing the theories of the causation presumption in the environmental tort, the thesis proposes that the causation presumption should apply to recognize the causal relationship between the environmental pollution and health damage. The author proposes some appropriate ways and auxiliary measures to ensure the smooth implementation of the principle of causal relation presumption in the HDEP.In Chapter IV, the thesis analyzes the compensation subject of the HDEP. In our legislation, the only compensation subject of HDEP is the enterprises who made pollution. This simplification compensation subject is not good for the victims to be compensated timely and effectively. Therefore, the thesis proposes that the compensation subject of the HDEP should be diverse. First, the malfeasance government should be responsible for the compensation for the HDEP. Second, it is necessary to implement the environmental pollution liability insurance in Ningxia. Especially, the highly pollution industry should insure the environmental pollution liability insurance. Then, the insurance company will compensate for the HDEP whenever it happens.In Chapter V, the thesis tries to build the compensation scope of the HDEP. First of all, it is necessary to increase the protection of fetal interests and the additional compensation for unforeseen personal injury in the scope of economic damages. The local economic conditions and ethnic minority customs in Ningxia should be considered in determining the amount of the compensation for economic damages. And the victims' loss on the transportation and accommodation should be compensated by the standard amount recognized when they fail to provide transportation and accommodation costs certificate. Meanwhile, the victim's moral damage caused by HDEP should be compensated. The thesis advocates the idea to identify the amount of the compensation for moral damage: combination of "the standardization of compensation classification" and " Judges'Discretion".In Chapter VI, the thesis discusses the special principle of compensation for the HDEP:the punitive damage compensation. Currently, the HDEP incidents occur frequently in China. The key reason is that it has not yet established a strict punishment mechanism. The punitive damage compensation should be advocated when the enterprise has discharged the pollutants by his intentional misconduct or gross negligence and caused extremely serious health damage. There is a certain link between the punitive damages and additional compensation. The Punitive damages is different from the administrative fines and the fine. When the polluters'property is insufficient to pay all concerned, the victim's health injury should be repaid first.The current research only discusses the environmental pollution damage problem from different aspects and little study on the compensation for the HDEP has been conducted on local issues. The subject of the thesis is how to build a relatively complete compensation system for the HDEP, especially in Ningxia. The aim is to provide timely and effective compensation relief for the victims of environmental pollution.This innovations of the thesis are:putting forward the way of causation presumption of the HDEP and the auxiliary measures, recommending to implement the environmental pollution liability insurance in Ningxia, advocating to respect the national customs and traditions on determining the amount of economic damages, advising to determine the victims'loss on the transportation and accommodation by the number of days of hospitalization or hospital and local expenses criteria when they fail to provide transportation and accommodation costs certificate and advocating the punitive damages principles applied to the polluters who caused the serious health damage by intentional misconduct or gross negligence in Ningxia's local legislation.In short, by using a variety of research methods to comb the status and problems of the HDEP compensation system in Ningxia Autonomous Region, the thesis tries to establish a compensation mechanism to provide a clear legal help for victims.