Do poluidor indireto: limites da responsabilidade civil e a proteção do meio ambiente

Abstract

The study of Environmental Law in Brazil is relatively recent. A Brazilian National Law ¿ Law no. 6.938 of 1981 ¿ created several public bodies, introduced legal definitions, and systematized the matter relating to Environmental Law to provide an accurate examination convergent with the global guidance brought up at the Stockholm Convention. Nearly by the end of the decade of 1980 happened the promulgation of the Federal Citizen Constitution ¿ the Citizen¿s Constitution ¿ on October 5th, 1988. It introduced guidelines, welcomed infra-constitutional principles and norms, thus cementing a constitutional system specific to environmental matters by creating a consistent protection to face eventual political changes, as the environment is, according to a final analysis, a true fundamental right to life (Article 5, main clause), thus setting up a permanent clause (Article 60, paragraph 4) for the simple reason that they provide guarantees and rights inherent not only to individuals, but to all collectivity, including all living beings. The collaboration and cooperation of all society is so evident that both the Public Power ¿ in its respective spheres ¿ and each individual are co-responsible for environmental preservation, which ultimately means guaranteeing the subsistence of current and future generations. In this context, the polluter emerges ¿ directly or indirectly ¿ as the greatest threat to good and constant development, with civil objective responsibility being imputed to him for the risk his activity can bring. However, the polluter cannot be demonized since, for technological development to happen ¿ which will have humankind itself as recipient ¿ the environment will often have to be modified, even if minimally. In this research, the timeline of Environmental Law is investigated according to its main legal diplomas, the constitutional matrix, followed by the analysis of the theme of responsibility for unlawful acts, in civil, criminal, and administrative spheres, all with an environmental focus. The study concludes with the examination of the character of the indirect polluter and the causal link as a core point supported by examples that occurred in Brazil in the recent past. It is understood that the study of Supreme and Superior Court decisions, responsible for standardizing the application of federal law, take up fundamental importance for understanding the evolution of Environmental Law in Brazil. This is an exploratory qualitative research, whose results are revealed through deliberations based on analysed data.