The polluter pays principle in the brazilian superior courts: a critical analysis
| Autor | Danielle de Andrade Moreira - Letícia Maria Rêgo Teixeira Lima - Izabel Freire Moreira |
| Cargo | Doctor and Master in Law by Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Associate Professor for Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, working also with the Graduation Program in Law and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Environment (NIMA/PUC-Rio). Coordinator of the Research Group in Law, Environment, and Justice at ... |
| Páginas | 367-427 |
367
Veredas do Direito, Belo Horizonte, v.16 n.34 p.367-427 Janeiro/Abril de 2019
THE POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE IN THE
BRAZILIAN SUPERIOR COURTS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS1
ABSTRACT
The acknowledgment of the – importance and potential – of the polluter pays
principle has the power to strengthen the various legal and environmental
instruments dedicated to promoting the equitable distribution of socio-
environmental burdens and bonuses and the realization of the fundamental
right to a balanced environment. This text is the result of a research carried
out in 2014 and updated in 2017 and 2018 on the application of the polluter
pays principle by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and Superior Court
of Justice (STJ) in Brazil. The main objective was to critically analyze
how this principle – considering its historical origin, relevance and scope
– has had an impact on the case law regarding the legal protection of the
and documentary survey, together with cataloging and critical analysis of
the selected material; the methodology included a survey, systematization
and qualitative analysis of rulings issued by the Courts in the period from
1993 to 2018 within the scope of STF and STJ. In relation to its remedial
aspect, the polluter pays principle has played an important role in boosting
environmental civil liability; it has worked as a theoretical guideline for the
solution of several of the challenges to the relief for environmental damages.
As for the preventive aspect of this principle, which is equally relevant for
1 The research was founded by CNPq (research mentorship scholarship).
Danielle de Andrade Moreira
Doctor and Master in Law by Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Associate Professor
for Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, working also with the Graduation Program
in Law and the Interdisciplinary Center for the Environment (NIMA/PUC-Rio). Coordinator of the
Research Group in Law, Environment, and Justice at Antropoceno (JUMA) from NIMA/PUC-Rio.
Member of the Advisory Council of NIMA/PUC-Rio. Coordinator of the lato sensu Graduation Cour-
se (specialist level) in Environmental Law from PUC-Rio.
Email: daniamoreira@puc-rio.br
http://dx.doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v16i34.1341
Letícia Maria Rêgo Teixeira Lima
Student for a Master’s Degree in State and Constitutional Law Theory at Pontifícia Universidade
Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio). Specialist in Brazilian Environmental Law by PUC-Rio.
Bachelor in Law by PUC-Rio. Researcher for the Research Group in Law, Environment, and Justice at
Antropoceno (JUMA) from NIMA/PUC-Rio.
E-mail: leticialima.ambiental@gmail.com
Izabel Freire Moreira
Specialist in Brazilian Environmental Law by Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro
(PUC-Rio). Bachelor in Law by PUC-Rio.
Email: pericia@pericia.pro.br
THE POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE IN THE BRAZILIAN SUPERIOR COURTS: A CRITICAL ANALYSIS
368 Veredas do Direito, Belo Horizonte, v.16 n.34 p.367-427 Janeiro/Abril de 2019
a better application of tools to enforce distributive justice in environmental
Keywords: Polluter pays principle; negative environmental externality;
internalization of environmental costs; prevention and remedying of
environmental damage; civil environmental liability.
O PRINCÍPIO DO POLUIDOR-PAGADOR NA JURISPRUDÊNCIA DO
STF E DO STJ: UMA ANÁLISE CRÍTICA
RESUMO
O reconhecimento da importância e do potencial – muitas vezes subes-
timado – do princípio do poluidor-pagador tem o condão de fortalecer
os diversos instrumentos jurídico-ambientais dedicados a promover a dis-
tribuição equitativa dos ônus e bônus socioambientais e a concretização
respeito de pesquisa, desenvolvida em 2014 e atualizada em 2017 e 2018,
sobre a aplicação do princípio do poluidor-pagador pelo Supremo Tri-
bunal Federal (STF) e Superior Tribunal de Justiça (STJ). O principal
objetivo foi o de analisar criticamente como o referido princípio – con-
sideradas sua origem histórica, relevância e amplitude – tem incidido na
jurisprudência relativa à tutela jurídica do meio ambiente, tendo em vista
a busca pela efetividade do direito fundamental ao meio ambiente equili-
acompanhado de catalogação e análise crítica do material selecionado; a
metodologia adotada incluiu levantamento, sistematização e análise qua-
litativa de acórdãos julgados no período de 1993 a 2018 no âmbito do
STF e STJ. Foi possível observar que, no que concerne à sua dimensão
reparatória, o princípio do poluidor-pagador tem cumprido importante
papel no aperfeiçoamento da responsabilidade civil ambiental, servindo
integral dos danos ambientais. Quanto à dimensão preventiva do referido
princípio, igualmente relevante para a melhor aplicação de ferramentas
-
Palavras-chave: Princípio do poluidor-pagador; externalidade ambiental
negativa; internalização de custos ambientais; prevenção e reparação de
danos ambientais; responsabilidade civil ambiental.
Danielle de Andrade Moreira & Letícia Maria Rêgo Teixeira Lima & Izabel Freire Moreira
369
Veredas do Direito, Belo Horizonte, v.16 n.34 p.367-427 Janeiro/Abril de 2019
FOREWORD
The process of collectivization and sale of assets legal systems
have been subject to throughout the twentieth century has resulted in
settling disputes, adopted spreading of social justice as one of its basic
functions. The constitutional protection of the environment is one of the
stages of this process. The right to the environment is acknowledged as a
fundamental human right, with broad and intergenerational ownership. The
scope of third-generation human rights or third dimension fundamental
rights include, as expected, the guarantee of the right to a decent life for
the maintenance of a balanced environment. Therefore, the existential
and collective aspect of this right is clear, a right that is constructed from
society’s reaction to the environmental crisis.
The maturation of the legal-environmental system, which
is driven by the inclusion of legal protection to the environment in the
constitution, results in the acknowledgment that Environmental Law as
an autonomous branch of Law has as one of its basic roles the promotion
of distributive justice in environmental matters, with a view at ensuring
quality of life for current and future generations.
In this context, the polluter pays principle (PPP) becomes
important. This principle is geared at making potentially polluting sources
to pay for the environmental costs their activities include. In light of
this principle, negative environmental externalities – or, in other words,
external environmental costs – are intended to be computed as production
costs. The promotion of environmental distributive justice depends on the
acknowledgment that it is primarily the responsibility of the polluter – or
potential polluter – to bear the preventive and remedial costs arising from
the environmental degradation they cause or are capable of causing.
Once the importance and potential – often underestimated – of the
polluter pays principle as one of the foundations of Environmental Law is
acknowledged, the various legal and environmental instruments dedicated
to promoting the equitable distribution of social and environmental burdens
are strengthened with the objective of to realize the right of everyone to
an ecologically balanced environment, pursuant Article 225 of the 1988
Federal Constitution.
This text presents the results of a research carried out in 2014 and
updated in 2017 and 2018, whose main objective was to critically analyze
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