Study On The Burden Of Proof In Action Of Environmental Tort

The particularity and complexity of Environmental infringement has led to difficulties in environmental tort action for damages in the proof. The distribution of the burden of proof directly determines the result of litigation. Therefore, the study on the burden of proof in action of environmental tort has realistic necessity and significance. The burden of proof has a dual nature. The one decides who will bear the adverse consequences and can be pre-assigned by the law is the objective burden of proof. The burden of proof in this article is an objective burden of proof. The distribution of the burden of proof in an environmental tort litigation t is different from the general tort litigation. In order to protect the victims, offense and illegality are excluded. So the objects of distribution include tort, damages, causality and exemptions. The principles concerning the distribution of burden of proof in current legislation of China are limited to the legal provisions. The principles include "who advocates, who proof" principle, inversion of the burden of proof, and fairness and honesty principle. The nature of the burden of proof is not clear. The standard of proof is unreasonable. Scientific methods of proof and the rules to distribute the burden of proof are missing. All above lead to a judicial practice confusion. For the above, first of all, the nature of the burden of proof should be clear, and the proof obligation of the victim should be stressed. Secondly, "a high degree of probability" standard of proof should be adopted in proving causation. Thirdly, we should learn foreign experience and adopt a variety of methods, including disease causation and indirect disproof. Finally, a standard system should be built, which provides guidance for the distribution of the burden of proof.