Negligence within the law (culpa con la ley) in environmental civil liability

Abstract

This paper explores the possibility of assigning negligence to the entre-preneur who complies with environmental regulations and nevertheless causes damages. The paper first refers to negligence within the law (culpa con la ley) in Chilean torts law. It then takes a position on the presumption of negligence in article 52 of Law 19.300 "General Environmental Law" (Bases Generales del Medio Ambiente). Finally, it discusses the different kind of environmental damages created by entrepreneurial activities that have obtained favourable environmental impact statements, specifying for each case the reasons that make admissible, in principle, the attribution of negligence to the entrepreneur.