Responsabilidad civil por perjuicio ecológico en el ordenamiento jurídico francés. Un análisis comparado con el español

Abstract

The object of this study is to analyze the institute of civil liability for ecological damage that is regulated in the French Civil Code, through which the civil judicial route is opened for the protection of the environment when significant attacks occur to the elements or functions of the ecosystems or the collective benefits extracted by man from the environment. Neverthless, in Spain we only have a dual system of liability for environmental damage: first, environmental damage is regulated in Law 26/2007, of October 23 (without prejudice to other sectoral administrative regulations); second, traditional damages (to the person or their property), which are governed by the traditional institute of civil liability (art. 1902 and 1908.2 of the Spanish Civil Code). Ultimately, it is about seeing if we have private law instruments (regulatory, doctrinal or jurisprudential) that can protect the collective interest in an adequate environment, or if, on the contrary, it becomes necessary, as in France, to modify our Civil Code.