ABSTRACT

This chapter reproduces instruments providing general or specific liability and redress regimes for environmental harm. It also reproduces the only existing convention which seeks to provide a general framework for civil liability related to activities causing damage to the environment. The 1993 Lugano Convention, though a regional treaty of the Council of Europe, constitutes an interesting attempt at addressing the question of environmental liability in general. The chapter includes for illustrative purposes a liability treaty concerning oil pollution damage at sea, a treaty concerning civil liability for nuclear damage and the 1999 Protocol on liability to the Basel Convention. It refers to two different instruments in this field. Firstly, general rules concerning state responsibility have been adopted by the International Law Commission. These rules are not environment-specific but provide the general principles concerning state responsibility. Secondly, there exists one interesting treaty providing for strict liability of states for damage caused by their space objects.