Klaus Ferdinand Gärditz, Soo Min Kim

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 21 (2023), Issue 3, Page 304 - 320

A remarkable decision of the General Court of the European Union deals with the regulatory requirements that to be met by scientific knowledge in order to justify the non-renewal of an authorization by the European Commission for plant protection products. The following essay takes this as an opportunity, in the sense of a case study, to present and explain the structures of European chemicals law along which scientific risk knowledge is processed. The case study demonstrates how the delicate mechanisms of knowledge generation and knowledge processing in European chemicals law, balanced by differentiation of organization and procedures, work as regulatory practice under judicial review. Risk assessment does not stop at formal criteria, but is also based on substantive requirements that follow legal rules and are controlled by the European jurisdiction. The research has shown that behind the semantics of administrative discretion lies a robust control regime designed to ensure appropriate standards of rationality of administrative assessments.

Soo Min Kim

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 20 (2022), Issue 2, Page 192 - 206

Since the EU-legislation sets specific air quality standards to limit air pollutants, air quality improvement has become a major matter of administrative jurisdiction. Individuals as well as, mostly, environmental organizations take legal actions to claim the enactment or update of air quality plans. The adaption and implementation of contextual European and International law obligations to German legal protection system has been by no means fluent. Following article gives an overall view of several problems and challenges, the administrative courts are confronted with. The analysis of relevant previous jurisdiction shows how the courts handle with the conditions for opening the way to legal protection and how they set the control standards for examining the legal compatibility of air quality plans. Considering the new World Health Organization recommendations from 2021 and the expected revision of the EU-ambient-air-quality-legislation, hopefully, this writing contributes to reinforce the achievements so far and raise awareness for the necessity of further adjustments, both regarding legal and environmental aspects.

Soo Min Kim

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 15 (2017), Issue 3, Page 233 - 242

Again and again the „failure of substantive law“ is issued. Substantive law shall be no more able to capture and regulate the complexity of social processes, technological developments and internationalization. It can be recognized through the progressively changing way of legislation from conditional to final and abstract programming, which increases scope for action and decision-making. Mostly affected are specialized administrative sectors, such as environmental law or market regulation law. Procedural law is seen as an alternative to compensate the problems of substantive law. Through the prescription of processes and procedures the scopes shall be structured and substantive results conditioned. But proceduralization entails dogmatic, structural and functional consequences which have to be discussed. The risks have to be recognized and the process if required has to be constrained or directed in a constitutional way.