9 - Environmental Tort

Summary

Chapter 9 examines environmental torts with a focus on the special rules and doctrines developed since the 1980s and under the Tort Law (2009) and relevant judicial interpretations of the SPC. Although most pollution-triggered disputes are resolved by mediation, courts offer the crucially important last resort for China’s most aggrieved and stubborn victims of pollution to seek remedies. Their efforts in seeking access to justice have helped shaping and reforming the rules and practice of environmental tort law to address the difficulties in the collection of evidence, assessment of damage, case acceptance by court, and enforcement of judgment. The chapter starts with exploration of the long journey to establish the rule of no-fault liability as an exception to the conventional fault-based liability by both judicial interpretation and legislation. It then examines the causal link between defendant’s acts and plaintiff’s loss or injury and the rule on the shift of burden of proof from plaintiff to defendant. As environmental torts often involve multiple tortfeasors and large number of victims, the chapter further investigates forms of liability among multiple tortfeasors, class action and remedies. It concludes with discussion of judicial mediation as a preferred option for settling disputes in court.