Environmental liability

Environmental liability covers civil, administrative and sometimes criminal consequences of harming protected environmental goods such as water, soil, air, forests or biodiversity. In Switzerland, authorities may order remediation, impose costs on responsible persons and enforce permit conditions; private claims may arise where damage affects property, health or economic interests. Liability may depend on fault, unlawful conduct, ownership, operation of an installation or causation. Complex cases often involve historic contamination, multiple contributors, insolvency and the relationship between public-law cleanup duties and private-law compensation.