Civil Liability of Oil Companies for Environmental Damage

Abstract

Oil pollution resulting from the activities of oil companies is one of the most inevitable events that are caused by such activities, especially in maritime territories. Naturally, as a destructive and risky behavior towards the environment, especially in maritime territories, mechanisms must be implemented and thought out to prevent the occurrence of oil pollution resulting from these activities in the first place and also to require oil companies to compensate for the damages resulting from polluting oil activities in the second place. The government of the Islamic Republic of Iran has currently taken steps to recognize the civil liability of oil companies for environmental damage, while joining the International Convention on Civil Liability for Ship Fuel Oil Pollution Damage and approving the corresponding law to this convention. In this study, an attempt has been made to examine the civil liability of oil companies for environmental damage, especially from the perspective of the polluter-pays principle as the fundamental basis for realizing civil liability resulting from committing environmentally damaging behaviors in international law, and to examine the approach of the Iranian legal system to this civil liability.