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Ronneby Petrol Leak

Pays/Territoire
Suède
Type de cour
Nationale - cour supérieure
Date
Mar 30, 2011
Source
UNEP, InforMEA
Nom du tribunal
Högsta Domstolen
Siège de la cour
Stockholm
Numéro de référence
B1667-10
Langue
Suédois
Sujet
Environnement gén.
Mot clé
Évaluation des ressources/des dommages
Résumé

An individual, T.M., had, when stopping at a service station to refuel, caused 350 litres of petrol to be spilled on the ground. Typically, this type of petrol leak could cause substantial harm to the health of humans, animals and plants. Though the actions before the lower courts lead to acquittals, the prosecutor appealed the case to the Supreme Court claiming that T.M. was guilty of environmental offence in accordance with chapter 29 section 1 of the Environmental Code.

The Supreme Court argued that it was clear that the leak was caused by an admittance valve being left open. Although it was not clear that this was caused by the negligence of T.M., the Supreme Court found that it was a negligent act to not oversee the refuelling. If T.M. had given some attention to the process a large amount of the leak of petrol could have been avoided.

The fact that T.M. took measures to minimize the damage was not a mitigating factor as the measures were taken first after the offence was committed. The actions however were a mitigating factor when deciding on the sanction imposed.

Texte intégral
B1667-10.pdf