Civil liability for Environmental Damages by Oil and Gas Companies in the Light of Laws and Treaties

Abstract

Civil liability is one of the most important issues on which civil laws are based in general. The activity of oil and gas refining companies causes a large number of pollutants harmful to the environment. Directly responsible for most of the environmental damage that primarily affects humans and other living and non-living organisms, and the environmental system in general. The international community has imposed the regulation of this responsibility through the conclusion of agreements, and perhaps the most important of these agreements is the “Brussels Convention of 1969 concerning civil liability for marine pollution damage with petroleum.” From this point of view, civil liability for environmental damage to oil and gas companies has become one of the most important issues that deserve research and investigation. Oil companies that do not observe the laws are entitled to fair compensation. Contemporary studies revealed negative signs of some oil companies operating in cities around the world, especially in Iraq and the region, which affect the health of the citizen, indicating that the health effects are fatal due to gaseous emissions, violations and the obligation of companies to pay debts and accumulated fines with the need to bear responsibility and allocate sums from companies to support the health sector and remove Waste. The issue also raised the civil liability of companies for environmental damage, several legal problems, most of which are represented by the insufficiency of the general rules of civil law and the special rules contained in the Law of Protection and Improvement of the Environment No. 27 of 2009 in Iraq and the Law of Protection and Improvement of the Environment in the Kurdistan Region - Iraq No. (8) For the year 2008. to regulate the provisions of this liability due to the specificity that characterizes most of its provisions, with the inappropriateness of the theory of error adopted by the Iraqi legislation and the region as a basis for civil liability, because it is not possible for the aggrieved party to prove it due to its complex technical nature, and thus it is not possible to hold civil liability for these companies, as a result of the lack of Availability of the element of error. It has been proven through research that the damage theory adopted by comparative legislation is the basis Which is consistent with the nature of civil liability for environmental pollution damage.