On The Strict Liability In Environmental Cases

The depravation of environment quantity is the problem that the international community faces. For this, most countries have drawn relevant environmental law, trying to keep it within limits, even to turn round this trend. The international society also proceeded for this for a long time. Therefore, the environment law theories are becoming the fastest developing field in domestic and international law. Chinese environmental law progressed form 1980's, with remarkable rapid and production. To this day, the system of environment law has been founded; the study of theories has progressed much, with the appearance of many young scholars and remarkable literatures. But also we should see, the foundation of Chinese environmental law is still placed in the early stage, facing the difficulties of lack of innovative ability, low level of study, rough legislation technique, the difficulty of execution. All these problems have to be settled in the advancement of theories and practice of environmental law; and this is also the duty of scholars and law workers. In many study objects of environmental law, the author has put emphases on the responsibility of environmental damages for a long time. Not only because of the complicacy of it, but also its close relationship between it and practice. It is the purpose of all study of environmental law. But compared with importance of it, the study of it is not enough. Not because scholars don't high on it, but it is a very difficult and ambivalent problem in the theories of all environmental laws. The essential reason is that it is very difficult to balance environment and economy. The author tries to study the problem from the angle of imputation principles, to research the feasibility of the transplant of strict liability into Chinese environmental law theories. Britain created strict liability by case law in the 1860's. But at that time there still were many limits on the application of it. Strict liability greatly alleviates the proof obligation of the plaintiff, becoming one of the most important causes of action. Strict liability progressed much at the end of the 20th century .The principle of foreseeability had been added to strict liability in the famous case of Cambridge Water Company. It limits the area of the appliance of strict liability and makes a foundation of the just and reasonable appliance of strict liability. The International Law Commission was charged with the study of strict liability in international law. It must be a long process for the international society to accept the principle of strict liability because of the aculeate contradiction among countries. The relative strict liability and restrictive damages are feasible measures for the generalization of strict liability. Chinese civil law adopted the principle of strict liability firstly. It embodies the change of the purpose of civil responsibility from punishment to compensation, because the victims are easier to be benefit from strict liability. A single imputation principle system isn't appropriate to all kinds of administrative responsibility. Its adjustment should depend on the administrative law subjects of responsibility. Strict liability should be applied to administrative subjects because of their function and status. The principle of liability for fault should be applied to the private party in the administrative process, because the responsibility they take is based on the foundation of fault.