C/L/141. Environmental Law and Protection

The current system of law in respect to the environment is a hodgepodge of various types of law ranging from the public, private, criminal, common and statutory. Therefore in a sense it is true there is no specific law that comes under the term 'environmental' law. This is primarily due to English law being based upon hundreds of years of common law and with common law there is no particular ruling until a similar set of facts has been decided. It is the re-active nature of the common law system which makes it hard to adapt to new conceptions, such as environmental law. The legal system is getting harsher for companies that breach environmental provisions; hence paperwork and the use of EMS are becoming essential to discharge liability for third party's acts that could have been prevented and negligent employees.