| The "Environmental Protection Law" establishes "pollution of the environment" and "damaging the ecology" as legal environmental torts,and leads to the application of the "Civil Code" Tort Liability Regulations,that is,tort liability for ecological damage.It can be seen from the existing cases that the tort liability for damage to the ecology should not be applied in exactly the same rules as the tort liability for environmental pollution in terms of the principle of liability,the constitutive elements,the subject of responsibility,the determination of causality,and the way of assuming responsibility.Judging from the status quo of my country’s legislation,the "Civil Code" tort liability has insufficient provisions on ecological damage tort liability,the illegal elements lack logic,and the causal evidence burden rule has not absorbed the existing legislative achievements.In terms of the way of assuming responsibility,only the restoration of the ecological environment and punitive damages are stipulated,and preventive responsibility is not given high attention,which is not conducive to preventing ecological damage.The newly established liability for compensation for damage to the ecological environment also has problems such as the unclear scope of the damage,the narrow scope of the subject,and the lack of cohesion clauses and rules with environmental public interest litigation and other related litigation.The rule of the burden of proof of causality is the key to the identification of ecological torts.Future legislation should clarify the burden of proof of the plaintiff and establish rules for presumption of causality.In the determination of liability,the principle of no-fault liability and the principle of fault liability should be distinguished and applied.In the way of assuming responsibility,the principle of restoration first and punishment second should be followed,and specific conditions should be attached when applying punishment and compensation to ensure the balance of interests.At the same time,it is necessary to further clarify the scope of ecological environmental "damage",learn from the beneficial experience of foreign countries,and broaden the claims and responsibility subjects of ecological damage litigation,such as the government,ecological stakeholders,and legal shareholders.Although there are certain theoretical obstacles to fully incorporate the ecological environment damage into the adjustment scope of the tort legal norms,this does not prevent the establishment of a complete ecological damage tort liability system in the tort legal system to fill the ecological environment damage,and other diversified public law relief.Remedies work together to do their best.Therefore,in addition to relying on private law relief,compensation for damage to the ecological environment also needs to improve liability insurance for damage to the ecological environment,establish an ecological environment damage compensation fund to diversify risks,and give the procuratorial authority the power of supervision and accountability in cases of ecological damage tort. |
