환경보호를 위한 소송제도의 도입과 관련한 법적 쟁점들

The risk caused by environmental damage is not immediately realized as a specific infringement of legal interests. Therefore, it is not appropriate to demand the same litigation requirements, such as specific disputes or interests in protecting rights, in environmental protection lawsuits as in general lawsuits. As the issue of climate change has recently become a global concern and countries around the world are establishing litigation systems to realize environmental public interest, Korea also needs to move away from the existing paradigm of environmental litigation as a means to remedy violations of individuals’ environmental rights and establish a litigation system to protect the ecological environment itself. In establishing a litigation system that does not presuppose a specific infringement of an individual’s legal interests, the question arises as to who should be given the right to conduct such litigation. One way to consider is to entrust this role to an environmental group with expertise and organizational capabilities. The purpose is to have environmental groups monitor environmental damages occurring throughout society and, when they discover illegal acts, to file a lawsuit as a plaintiff themselves to correct the illegal acts. In this case, the requirements for groups that are recognized as qualified to file a lawsuit are specifically stipulated in the law, but there is no need to obtain permission from the court. In order for these class action lawsuits to function as a means for actual environmental protection, it is desirable to allow for claims for measures that maximize the harmonization of the public interest of the environment and the defendant’s private interests in addition to claims seeking a complete prohibition of the problematic acts, and to allow claims ordering payment of money to restore the damaged natural environment as well as to serve a general preventive function.