ecologic.de Environmental Litigation in Germany Peter Kessler Ecoconsult Ecologic
ecologic.de ecologic.de Overview • Background • Civil Law and Environmental Litigation • Public Law and Environmental Litigation • Outlook Datum 2
ecologic.de Background
ecologic.de ecologic.de The Importance of Environmental Protection • Local, Regional and Global Problems • Who Protects Environmental Commons and Future Generations? • Environmental Policy as a State Task • Environmental Law as the Means of Implementation Datum 4
ecologic.de ecologic.de The Federal Republic of Germany Federal Structure: • Federation (Bund) • Regional States (Länder) • Municipalities (Kommunen) Datum 5
ecologic.de ecologic.de The Judiciary System • Federal, Regional and Local Courts • Hierarchically Organised • Different Judicial Tracks: Constitutional Courts Civil and Penal Courts Administrative Courts Other Courts Datum 6
ecologic.de ecologic.de Evolution of Environmental Litigation • First Phase: Protection of Property against Nuisance • Second Phase: Enforcement of Environmental Rights and Duties • Third Phase: Public Interest Litigation and Recognition of Environmental NGOs Datum 7
ecologic.de ecologic.de Constitutional Aspects • Federalism, Democracy and the Rule of Law • Division of Powers • Guaranteed Recourse to the Judiciary • State Objective of Environmental Protection Datum 8
ecologic.de ecologic.de Public Interest Litigation: A Comparison • Different Levels of Access to Justice • Crucial Difference: Role of Environmental Interest Groups • Majority of States Afford Easy Access • Fairly Restrictive Tradition in Germany Datum 9
ecologic.de ecologic.de The European Union • Active European Union Legislature • Convergence of Member State Laws • Legislation on Public Participation and Information • Legislative Proposal on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters Datum 10
ecologic.de Civil Law and Environmental Litigation
ecologic.de ecologic.de Claims Based on General Civil Law • Allows Claims to Avert or Compensate Environmental Damage • Property Protection Sections 1004 and 906 of the Civil Code • Tort Law Sections 823 et sqq . of the Civil Code • Liability Rules in Environmental Law Datum 12
ecologic.de ecologic.de Claims Based on the Environmental Liability Act • Environmental Liability Act of 1990 • Strict Liability for Damage from Installations • Coverage: Accidents and Normal Operation • Presumption of Causality • But : Exculpation Rule for Operators Datum 13
ecologic.de Public Law and Environmental Litigation
ecologic.de ecologic.de Individual Rights Proceedings in Public Environmental Law Claimant Asserts Impairment of Individual Rights Addressee Third Person Adressees of Detrimental Must Base Claim on Decision always have Individual Rights... ...of a Protected Third Person Legal Standing Yes No "Neighbour" Examples Examples Health, Property Rights Substantive Provisions of the Federal Nature Conservation Act Procedural Rights of Simple Procedural Rights Associations According to the Federal Nature Protection Act Datum 15
ecologic.de ecologic.de Public Interest Proceedings in Public Environmental Law • Based on Section 61 of the Federal Nature Protection Act • Legal Standing for Recognised Environmental Associations • Limited to Actions for Rescission • Restricted Subject Matter and Grounds for Action (cont’d) Datum 16
ecologic.de ecologic.de Public Interest Proceedings in Public Environmental Law Section 61 of the Federal Nature Protection Act Subject Matters Grounds for Action Capacity to Act Admissible Inadmissible Admissible Inadmissible Recognised Association Affected within the Scope of Exemptions from Approval of Buildings, Violation of Incompetence its Activities Nature Protection Roads, Industrial Facilities, Federal Nature Requirements and others Protection Act Entitled to Participate in Plan Establishment Violation of Provisions the Procedure Preceeding Decisions derived from the Federal the Challenged Decision Nature Protect. Act Actual Participation in Plan Approval Violation of other that Procedure Decisions Provisions intended for Nature Protection Other Decisions Datum 17
ecologic.de ecologic.de Common Rules • Decisive Point in Time Adoption of Administrative Act, not of Judgment • Judicial Scrutiny Comprehensive Judicial Review, except for � � Decisions based on Administrative Discretion � � � � Decisions with a Prognostic Component � � Datum 18
ecologic.de ecologic.de Public Interest Proceedings: Example 1 • Construction of Wind Power Plant in Nature Reserve • Substantive Focus: Exemption from Nature Protection Requirements • Differing Decisions and Expert Opinions • Result: Administrative Court Potsdam Rescinds Decision of Federal Ministry Datum 19
ecologic.de ecologic.de Public Interest Proceedings: Example 2 • Construction of Federal Highway A 20 • Substantive Focus: Balancing of Interests • Claimant: Nature Protection Interests Insufficiently Considered • Court: Applies Restrictive Judicial Review “no error in appreciation of interests” • Result: Federal Administrative Court Upholds Plan Establishment Decision Datum 20
ecologic.de Outlook
ecologic.de ecologic.de Outlook • Individual Rights Proceedings Unlikely to Change • Ongoing Debate on Public Interest Proceedings 25 June 2003: European Directive on Access to Justice 25 June 2005: Deadline for Implementation June 2006: European Commission Institutes Proceedings against Germany 13 July 2006: German Bill does not Extend Scope of Present Public Interest Litigation Datum 22
ecologic.de Thank you for listening. Peter Kessler Ecoconsult Ecologic Pfalzburger Str. 43-44, D-10717 Berlin � � � � +49-30-86880-0, � � � � +49-30-86880-100, www.ecologic.de
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