Abstract

French law and South-African law are among the few legal systems in the world which have constitutionally enshrined the precautionary principle (principe de précaution). Under this principle, public authorities are required to take into account the limits of current knowledge in order to secure an ecologically sustainable development. This paper discusses whether the precautionary principle is likely to have an impact on civil and criminal liability rules. The outcomes of this research are intended to provide further input for a broader debate on the influence of the Constitution on the concept of liability.