On Distributing Burden Of Proof In Environmental Tort Actions

How to distribute burden of proof is not only important for the final result of the trial of the case, which will have great influence on both parties of the lawsuit, it also concerns the realization of the legislative aim of the country. Therefore, it remains a hot topic in the field of civil procedural law study and the field of evidence law study. However, the principles and regulations concerning the distribution of burden of proof in current legislation of China are not explicit, so how to deal with the distribution of burden of proof is a hard nut to crack in different cases and different circumstances, especially in the extraordinary cases of environment infringement disputes. It could be seen from juridical practice that owing to the particularity of environment infringement and the complicacy of environment infringement disputes, it is difficult to put to proof and distribute burden of proof in related lawsuits. To sum up, the research on distributing burden of proof in environment tort actions has great significance in theory and practice.Apart from the introduction and conclusion parts, the thesis is made up of four parts:The first part is a detailed introduction of the basic theories on the distribution of burden of proof in environment tort actions. Firstly, the connotation and features of environment tort actions is explicitly defined. Then the particularity of distributing burden of proof in environment tort actions is elaborated. Finally, the development of theories on the distribution of burden of proof in environment tort actions is explored through introducing the research result made in China and the outstanding research findings made in the field in countries such as Japan, Germany and the USA.In the second part factors influencing the distribution of burden of proof in environment tort actions are pointed out. From the perspective of comparative method, the principles in distributing burden of proof in continental law system and Anglo-American legal system are combed and expounded. Based on this, concrete factors influencing the distribution of burden of proof in environment tort actions are summed up as the status of the parties of the lawsuit, their burden of proof, the consideration of legislative purpose, the requirement of equal protection, the legal validity of the behavior.The third part is a combing of the current situation and existing problems in the legislation of the distribution of burden of proof in environment tort actions in our country. Based on laws such as Civil Procedural Law, and Liability for Tort, judicial interpretations such as The Civil Litigation Opinion and Rules of Evidence, and environment separate law, a comprehensive summary of the current situation in the legislation of the distribution of burden of proof in environment tort actions is made. Besides, its problems and shortcomings are pointed out. These problems include the indeterminacy of burden of proof of the prosecutor, the lack of the rule of proving causal relationship, the neglect of the distance of proof and burden of proof, the defect of the inversion of burden of proof, etc.In the fourth part, based on our national conditions and drawing on the experiences of advanced theoretical results in foreign countries, some measures of improving the distribution of burden of proof in environment tort actions in our country are put forward. In this part, the author expounds the constitutive requirements of tort actions, which include infringement act, damage result, the distribution of burden of proof of causal relationship between infringement act and damage result. In addition, suggestions on establishing and improving a standard testification system are put forward. It is hoped that this will contribute to the development of relevant systems in this field.