International And Supranational Aspects Of Nuclear Liability
Keywords:
nuclear third party liability, European legislation, international conventions on nuclear liability, EURATOM, nuclear damages.Abstract
The Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy represent the fundamental international conventions regulating the issues of liability for damages caused as a result of a nuclear incident. These conventions have promoted a special regime (nuclear liability regime) which is based on the system of civil law and founded on several principles and which enables the compensation of victims of nuclear accidents by operators of nuclear installations.
The paper deals with some aspects of the current nuclear liability framework, analysing the fundamental principles which had become binding rules for respective contracting parties (states) over the preceding half-century, considering the commitments arising from the international nuclear liability conventions and trying to assess the possibility of application of the state’s liability for transnational nuclear damage under the regime of international public law. Further, the paper deals with the role, position and the competence of the European Union in the existing nuclear liability framework pointing out major challenges for the future development of nuclear liability regime legislation, taking into account the legislative activity and other forms of EU actions.
References
2. BOEHLER, M.-C. “Reflections on Liability and Radiological or Nuclear Accidents: The Accidents at Goiania, Forbach, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl”. Nuclear Law Bulletin (1997, No. 59).
3. BOULANENKOV, V. Main Features of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage – an Overview. In: Reform of civil nuclear liability. Budapest symposium (Paris: OECD 1999).
4. BUSEKIST, O. “A bridge between two conventions on civil liability for nuclear damage: The Joint Protocol Relating to the Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention”. Nuclear Law Bulletin (1989, No. 43).
5. HANDRLICA, J. “Exclusive jurisdiction vs. forum shopping in European nuclear liability law”, International Journal of Nuclear Law (Vol. 3, No. 2, 2010).
6. HANDRLICA, J. „Opcie a limity možnej harmonizácie režimu zodpovednosti za jadrové škody v rámci Európskeho spoločenstva/Európskej únie“. Právny obzor (2009, No. 2).
7. HANDRLICA, J. Channelling of nuclear third party liability towards the operator: jeopardised by the Brussels regulation. Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International law (Prague: Czech Society of International Law, 2011).
8. HANDRLICA, J. Jaderné právo (Právní rámec pro mírové využívání jaderné energie a jeho vývojové souvislosti) (Praha: Auditorium 2012).
9. HANDRLICA, J. The Protocol of 1997 to Amend the Vienna Convention on Nuclear Liability and European Union. Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law (Prague: Czech Society of International Law, 2013).
10. HANDRLICA, J., NOVOTNÁ, M. „Legal framework and perspectives of nuclear third party liability in the Czech and Slovak Republic“. Forum iuris Europaeum (2013, No. 2).
11. IAEA (ed.) The 1997 Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and the 1997 Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage – Explanatory Texts (Vienna: IAEA, 2007).
12. KISS, A. „State responsibility and liability for nuclear damage“. Denver Journal of International Law and Policy (2006, No. 1).
13. KISS, A. State Responsibility and Liability for Nuclear Damage. In: Stockinger, H. – Van Dyke, J. M. et al. (eds.) Updating International Nuclear Law (Wien: Neuer wissenschaftlicher Verlag, 2007).
14. LA FAYETTE, L. “Towards a New Regime of State Responsibility for Nuclear Activities”. Nuclear Law Bulletin (1992, No. 50).
15. LAGORCE, M. The Brussels Supplementary Convention and its Joint Intergovernmental Security Fund. Nuclear Law for a Developing World. IAEA, Vienna, 1968.
16. LAMM, V. „The Protocol amending the 1963 Vienna Convention“. Nuclear law bulletin (1998, No. 61).
17. MCRAE, B. Overview of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation. In: Reform of civil nuclear liability (Paris: OECD, 1999).
18. NANDA, V. P. „International environmental norms applicable to nuclear activities, with particular focus on decisions of international tribunals and international settlements“. Denver Journal of International Law and Policy (2006, No. 1).
19. NOVOTNÁ, M. – HANDRLICA, J. Zodpovednosť za jadrové škody. Výzva pre medzinárodnú a národnú zodpovednostnú legislatívu v post- fukušimskom období (Bratislava: Veda, vydavateľstvo Slovenskej akadémie vied, 2011).
20. NOVOTNÁ, M. - VARGA, P. “The relation of the EU law and the nuclear liability legislation: Possibilities, limits and mutual interaction”, Societas et iurisprudentia (2014, No. 3)
21. PELZER, N. Focus on the Future of Nuclear Liability Law. In: OECD Nuclear Energy Agency: Reform of civil nuclear liability (Budapest: OECD Publishing, 2000).
22. POLITI, M. International and Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage: Some Recent Developments of State Practice. In: La réparation des dommages catastrophiques: les risques technologiques majeurs en droit international et en droit communautaire (Bruylant, 1990).
23. REITSMA, S. An Equitable Distribution of Compensation: Realistic or Wishful Thinking? In OECD Nuclear Energy Agency, Reform of civil nuclear liability (Budapest: OECD Publishing, 2000).
24. STOIBER, C. – BAER, A. – PELZER, N. – TONHAUSER, W. Handbook on nuclear law (Austria: IAEA 2003).
25. SURANSKY, F. Increased Liability Amounts under the 1997 Vienna Protocol and Elsewhere. In Reform of civil nuclear liability (Paris: OECD 1999).
26. TREVOR, J.P.H. Principles of civil liability for nuclear damage. Nuclear Law for a Developing World. IAEA, Vienna, 1968.
27. VAN DYKE, J. M. The Inadequate Liability and Compensation Regime for Damage Caused by Nuclear Activities.
28. VAN DYKE, M. „Liability and compensation for harm caused by nuclear activities“. Denver Journal of International Law and Policy (2006, No. 1).
