Екологично право: Обща част [Environmental Law in the Republic of Bulgaria: General Part]. George Penchev [Texto en búlgaro]

Resumen

A very useful textbook entitled Environmental Law in the Republic of Bulgaria: General Part (in Bulgarian)1 has been published in 2011 in Bulgaria. Its author, Professor George Penchev, PhD, is a lecturer in Environmental Law in the Faculty of Law in Plovdiv University. He is also the author of six books and 170 articles mainly in the field of Environmental Law (its national and international aspects). The reviewed book consists of a preface, 14 chapters, conclusions, and lists of literature and useful Internet web sites in the field of environmental protection.
The first four chapters are dedicated to some general theoretical problems in Environmental Law, especially the role of Law for the solving of environmental problems (chapter 1); Environmental Law as a branch of the legal system in the Republic of Bulgaria (chapter 2); the State’s environmental policy and its principles (chapter 3); and, the sources of Environmental Law (chapter 4). The author considers that Environmental Law is a complex branch of Law which regulates two kinds of public relations –those related to the protection of the environment from pollution and the ones which refer to a rational use of natural resources (p. 26). He emphasizes the fact that the system of the Environmental Law is divided into two parts –general and special. The general part is related to legal tools with more general meaning for the protection of the environment whereas the special part is dedicated to the protection of the separate components of the environment or to the activities with significant impact on its state (p. 30). According to Professor Penchev, the State’s environmental policy consists of ideas, principles and practical approaches to solve ecological problems in society, regulated by regulations and documents adopted by the competent authorities (p. 31). The following five chapters relate to the powers of central (chapters 5-7) and local (chapter 8) administration in the field of environmental protection, as well as to the rights of non-governmental organizations in this field (chapter 9). Special attention is given to the Ministry of Environment and Waters as a special body for the implementation of the State’s environmental policy (pp. 72-81). The author shows the trend towards the increase of the local authorities’ power in the field of environmental protection in Bulgarian legislation as well as the necessity of administrative capacity and financial resources (p. 105). In chapter 10 different kinds of liability for the infringement of environmental legislation are evaluated, and, in chapter 11, compulsory administrative measures are analysed. The author considers that, from a theoretical point of view, it is possible to create a special kind of liability, which he calls “ecological financial liability” for legal persons in the field of environmental protection (p. 120-122). The last three chapters are devoted to some legal tools with general meaning for the protection of the environment as a whole, such as environmental impact assessment (chapter 12), ecological assessment of plans and programmes (chapter 13) and the right to information on the environment (chapter 14). According to the author, environmental impact assessment is a procedure regulated by law for the assessment of the negative effects caused by significant antropogenic impact on the environment through investment projects (p. 128). He emphasizes that ecological assessment is also a procedure regulated by law, but for the assessment of the negative effects caused by significant antropogenic impact on the environment through plans and programmes (p. 147). Both procedures are legal tools with a preventative character for environmental protection. Finally, some general conclusions are drawn in order to improve Bulgarian environmental legislation and its implementation. As for the features and contents of the reviewed book, it can be concluded that it is very interesting and useful not only for students and lawyers in practice but also for ecologists.