환경법원과 환경분쟁조정위원회의 역할에 대한 전망

Abstract

With the growth of environmental problem and the public awareness of them, specialized environmental adjudication body has been needed. Korea has no independent environment court. Korea has traditional court system in environment dispute. But Korea has created an administrative dispute resolution agency, the National Environmental Dispute Resolution Commission under the Ministry of Environment in 1991. The Commission aims to address environmental disputes in a prompt, fair and efficient way so as to preserve environment and to relieve damages of health and property. The commission is free from the barriers to effectiveness in solving the environment dispute, for example, long delays, poor case management, decision makers lacking in environmental expertise, high cost and economic expense for litigation. Despite these advantages of the Commission, the Commission has limited judicial power as the Constitution Law provided that judicial power shall belong to the court consisting of judges. It is difficult to independently exist separately from trials at the point of legal procedure. Nevertheless, the Commission can be an attractive solution for the following reasons; cost reduction, no delays, expert decision makers with knowledge of environmental law and science. This will helps public interest lawsuits and class action be expanded in environmental dispute.