Shout to the top: environmental liability of companies and directors under Belgian and UK law

Article abstract:

The aim of this contribution is to provide an overview of the basic features of environmental liability of companies and their directors from a comparative perspective between Belgium and the United Kingdom. This article starts with the concept of environmental liability under the legal regimes. Moreover, the various legal bases for environmental liability are analysed from a broader approach which includes the different rules of civil, criminal and administrative liability for environmental damage applied to companies and their directors. The article concludes that the legal systems based their environmental liability regime on a mixture of legal principles and additional specific environmental regulations in order to meet with the principles' shortcomings. Notwithstanding the great effort of both Belgium and the United Kingdom, in practice these regimes do not suffice for a preventive, repressive and restorable effect of environmental damage.