Ship Oil Pollution Damage, Jointly And Severally Liable Study

With the worsening of pollution and deterioration of environment, environmental tort and civil remedies will become a big social problem in the world, especially the oil pollution from the collision of ships, it is a huge threat to the human environment.When a collision of two or more ships takes places, whether the ships which not leak oil should be responsibility for the Indemnification of the loss, is always controversial. Especially when it comes to the collision happened because of each other's faultiness. There are always different understanding and different opinion in different scholars. And different court also make different sentence, there are two main judicial opinions now. One is let the ship which leak oil undertake the responsibility alone, another is let all relevant ships in a collision undertake joint liability together. Many scholars support the first one, because of the formula of fault- common infringement- joint liability in classic jurisprudence (It is regarded that the premise of joint liability is common infringement, and common infringement emphasize fault theory). So Principle of Liability without fault is thought to be the unique principle in environmental pollution tort, so the principle of Liability for negligence couldn't be used in it. Therefore, Principle of Liability without fault and joint liability couldn't be used together in environmental pollution tort. But the author holds a different opinion.Undoubtedly, both domestic and international scholars regard that oil pollution tort from ships is different from general torts in which the principle of Liability for negligence could be used, and we should use Principle of Liability Without Fault in it. However, oil pollution tort is so complicated that victim's legal rights could not be completely protected by Principle of Liability Without Fault as time goes by.Therefore, the System of joint liability is urgent needed to protect victim' s legal rights, then the equity and the justice of the law could be maintained.This paper detailed analysis the principle of liability in marine oil pollution tort and the system of joint liability, to explain the possibility and necessity of joint liability system in marine pollution, and tell the particular way to undertake joint liability. Thereby, an integrity system about whether the ships which not leak oil should undertake the joint liability and how to undertake the joint liability is set up. At the meanwhile, this article also gives suggestions to China on how to perfect its law system in the field of marine oil pollution.