Criminal and civil liability for environmental damage

Abstract

Environment is the existential right of man. The protection of the environment, seen in relation to other issues, is almost at the top of the priority, and hence the necessity and urgency to establish a legal regulation is recognized.The issue of environmental liability can be considered from multiple angles, while the focus of this research will be directed to criminal and civil liability.Criminal law enforces the protection of society from crime, so that the most favorable protection of the environment is achieved in this way.Civil law protection of the environment is not regulated directly by specific regulations, but it is foreseen by legislative instruments in the area of compensation of damages, such as the Law on Obligations, the Law on the Basis of Property Relations and others. It is due to the prominent goal of this research through the methodological and theoretical framework to analyze the criminal and civil liability of the environment due to environmental damage. By using the method of analysis we will address the most important issues of relevance to research, while the normative method will be used to illustrate legislation regulating the study of matter at the international level, at the level of the European Union and in the positive legislation of the Republic of Serbia. Comparative method will be used to summarize the results obtained.