环境法中“风险预防”原则之再探讨

环境法基本原则的法律确认,反应了两个主要功能,其一是环境法的结构化,其二是环境政策的合法化。风险预防,作为一项法律原则,最早产生于20世纪80年代的德国,最初这条原则的核心是社会应当通过认真的提前规划和阻止潜在的有害行为来寻求避免破坏环境。风险预防原则要满足两个条件:(1)确定性的缺乏;(2)一个严重地不可逆地损害风险的存在。目前,国际上存在强弱两种版本的风险预防原则,尚未在该原则的概念上形成统一认识。风险预防原则在国内立法中实施的核心是成本效益问题,也是现阶段我国环境法将其本土化的主要障碍。

Re-discussion about Precautionary Principle in Environmental Law

The legal recognition of the basic principles of environmental law reflects two main functions,one is the structurization of environmental law,and the second is the legitimating of environmental policy.Precaution,as a legal principle,originated in Germany in the eighties of the 20th century.The initial core of the principle is that the society should seek to avoid damage to the environment through careful advance planning and prevention of potentially harmful behaviors.The precautionary principle needs to meet two conditions: first,the lack of certainty;second,the existence of a serious risk of irreversible harm.Currently,there are two versions of the precautionary principle as"strong" and"weak" in the world,yet to come to a unified understanding in the concept context.The core of the implementation of precautionary principle in domestic legislation is the question of cost-effectiveness,which will also be a major obstacle to its localization in China environmental legislation in the present stage.