International Legal Aspects of the Assessment of Environmental Damage Caused by Military Actions

• Author: Liudmyla Golovko
• Position: Comenius University
• Pages: 99-110

BRATISLAVA

LAW

REVIEW

PUBLISHED BY

THE FACULTY OF LAW,

COMENIUS UNIVERSITY

BRATISLAVA

ISSN (print): 2585-7088

ISSN (electronic): 2644-6359

INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE ASSESSMENT

OF ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGE CAUSED BY MILITARY

ACTIONS/ Liudmyla Golovko

doc. Mgr. Liudmyla Golovko, PhD.

Associate Professor

Comenius University Bratislava

Faculty of Law

Department of International Law

and International Relations

Šafárikovo nám. 6

818 00 Bratislava; Slovakia

liudmyla.golovko@flaw.uniba.sk

ORCID: 0000-0002-3742-2827

Funded by the EU NextGenerationEU

through the Recovery and Resilience

Plan for Slovakia under the project

№ 09103-03-V01-00122.

Abstract:

Military actions not only cause massive human

casualties and extensive destruction of homes, infrastructure,

and other property, but also a significant environmental damage.

It raises the issue of the importance of assessment of

environmental damage as a necessary prerequisite for obtaining

reparations. The paper analyses international legal documents

which relate to the issue of assessment of the amount of

environmental damage, as well as relevant decisions of

international bodies in this sphere. A conclusion was made about

the lack of a uniform approach to the assessment of amount of

environmental damage, both in international documents and in

international judicial practice. The necessity of the adoption of an

international document that would establish the methodology

which should be used during environmental damage assessment

was proved. This paper should determine components of the

environment deterioration of which should be compensated.

Submitted:

07 February 2024

Accepted:

10 June 2024

Published:

07 July 2024

Key words: Environmental Harm; Assessment of Environmental

Damage; Environmental Responsibility; Military Actions;

International Environmental Law

Suggested citation:

Golovko, L. (2024). International Legal Aspects of the Assessment of

Environmental Damage Caused by Military Actions. Bratislava Law

Review, 8(1), 99-110. https://doi.org/10.46282/blr.2024.8.1.828

1. INTRODUCTION

Military actions always cause significant damage to the environment especially

when norms of humanitarian law are violated. Damage is caused to various components

of the environment. Leaks of toxic chemicals due to damage to industrial enterprises,

destruction of infrastructure related to water supply and drainage, burned oil depots, fuel

storage facilities at airfields, agrochemical storage facilities cause pollution of air, soil,

and water resources. Active hostilities at sea cause man-made disasters and seriously

affect its ecosystem. Soil pollution has long-term consequences for several generations.

For holding the states accountable for causing environmental damage and the collection

of reparations it is necessary to assess environmental damage correctly and reasonably.

Scientists did not pay much attention to the issue of studying the international

legal regulation of environmental damage assessment caused during military co nflicts.

Considering the unprecedented scale of the damage caused to the environment of

Ukraine during the aggression of the Russian Federation, as well as the constant military

conflicts that arise in different corners of the globe and, as a result, the need to establish