CYIL vol. 11 (2020)

MARIANNA NOVOTNÁ – VERONIKA TROJČÁKOVÁ CYIL 11 (2020) úpravy zodpovednostného jadrového práva vedie k zjednodušeniu procesu uplatnenia práva na náhradu škody poškodenými subjektmi eliminujúc tak viaceré negatíva zodpovednosti založe- nej na princípe zavinenia (najmä tie, týkajúce sa dôkazného bremena). Key words: international nuclear liability, strict liability, burden of proof, international nuclear law About the Authors: Marianna Novotná is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Civil and Commercial Law, Faculty of Law, University of Trnava, Slovak Republic. Veronika Trojčáková is Assistant Professor at the Department of Labour Law, Faculty of Law, University of Trnava, Slovak Republic. 1. Introduction 1 The particularities of the nuclear industry and the special nature of the particularly dangerous operations category associated with the peaceful use of nuclear energy (nuclear installations) have led to the need for special regulation of the liability relations associated with these exceptionally dangerous operations within the nuclear industry. 2 Nuclear installations involve a hazard of a peculiar nature, the intensity of which is higher than in “normal” particularly hazardous operations, the risk being reflected in the potentially broad consequences with regards to the extent of the damage (in the worst case scenarios even exceeding national borders). The general principles of tort law (applicable to particularly dangerous operations in general) are not and have not been designed to be able to deal sufficiently with the problems associated with use of nuclear energy and consequences associated with such use (especially with the so-called cross-border nuclear damage). Therefore, the operation of nuclear facilities as a special category of particularly dangerous operations required special normative regulation (on both international and national level) of their organization, management, use, as well as individual elements of liability relations. The legal framework of nuclear liability regulation is not primarily based on public liability of the state but on the private liability of the nuclear facility operator (if the nuclear facility operator is the state itself, its liability is in the nature of civil liability). The nuclear liability regime was set up as a distinct normative system from the general tort law 3 on the basis of specifically constructed principles 4 that can be extracted from the basic normative 1 This study was prepared as the outcome of the research project APVV-18-0443 „Projections of Labour Law into other Private Law Disciplines (and vice versa)“. 2 To the reasons for creating special liability regime for nuclear damage see HANDRLICA, Jakub “The Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage and Nuclear Installations: Application Problems Revisited” (2015) 6 Czech Yearbook of Public and Private International Law 152. 3 To the nuclear law as an academic discipline see Jakub HANDRLICA,“Nuclear law revisited as an academic discipline” (2019) 11 Journal of World Energy Law and Business , Volume 52. 4 To the nuclear liability principles see: (i) HARDY, Michael “Nuclear Liability: The General Principles of Law and Further Proposals” (1960) 36 British Yearbook of International Law 223-249. (ii) KISSICH, Susanne Internationales Atomhaftungsrecht: Anwendungsbereich und Haftungsprinzipien (Nomos Verlag 2004) 142-143, (iii) PELZER, Norbert “On harmonizing nuclear energy law”, in: Norbert PELZER (ed) Status, prospects and possibilities if international harmonization in the field of nuclear energy law (Nomos Verlag 1985) 39-56. (iv) TREVOR, John “Principles of civil liability for nuclear damage”, in IAEA (ed) Nuclear Law for a Developing World (IAEA 1969) 109-115.

358