預防原則之初探

Preliminary Study of the Precautionary Principle

二十世紀及二十一世紀，人類的科技突飛猛進，影響了社會、經濟、環境、人類健康與安全等等，而法律制度逐漸發展出永續發展原則、污染者付費、預防原則等。其中預防原則最早是發展於1970年代德國與瑞典之環境法之概念。近年來於國際法亦逐漸發展中。里約宣言第15條規定始有較明確定義預防原則之內涵。該原則是在說明，於環境有嚴重威脅或不可逆轉的危險時，雖然此危險上尚缺乏充分科學證據，仍需防患未然，採取預防措施，不得以缺乏充分科學證據，作為延緩採取符合成本效益以防止環境惡化之措施之理由。又，該原則實踐至今，適用範圍相當廣泛，除了環境議題以外，尚包含生物科技、食品安全、毒性化學物質、國際貿易、生物多樣性、自然資源及生態之保育等議題。其涉及之法律層面亦當然非常廣泛，包含全球性國際規範、區域性國際規範、雙邊國際規範、國際法庭案例、外國立法例及我國相關規範、實務見解等。另因海洋環境汙染及過度捕撈，海洋漁業資源日益枯竭，本文先嘗試依序說明1982年海洋法公約有關漁業資源養護與管理之規定、預防原則之全球性國際規範、我國加入之區域性國際規範、雙邊國際規範及我國規範、實務見解，並分別就適用於漁業資源管理與養護以及環境保護等其他議題等而為說明，以初探預防原則之內涵。又，WCPFC、安地瓜公約、NPFC公約等均經我國完成法律程序，並經我國漁業法規定引入上開公約，而成為我國國內法法源。WCPFC、安地瓜公約、NPFC公約等亦均有預防原則之規範，我國於漁業議題似已引入預防原則之規範。雖然我國食品安全衛生管理法及實務見解均有提到預防原則，但就預防原則之內涵均未說明，誠屬可惜，是有賴將來我國立法、行政、司法等機關就該原則之實踐與具體化。

With mankind's technological advances in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, it has impacted society, economics, environment, human health and safety etc. This has also gradually developed legal systems of the Sustainable Development Principle, the Polluter-Pays Principle, and the Precautionary Principle. The Precautionary Principle is a progressively developing principle in the field of International Law; the term originates from the German term “Vorsorgeprinzip” which comes from the1970s Environmental Laws of Germany and Sweden. The Precautionary Principle was first defined in Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, stating that “Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.” In addition to environmental issues, the Precautionary Principle is now widely applied to many fields, including bio-technology, food-safety, toxic chemicals, international trade, biological diversity, and natural resources. It also widely relates to legal aspects, including global regulations, regional regulations, bilateral agreements, cases from International Tribunal, legislations of foreign countries, and regulations and cases in Taiwan. Due to marine pollution and over fishing, marine fishery resources have been progressively exhausted. This study introduces the Precautionary Principle into regulations of conservation and management of fishery. We will discuss seriatim conservation and management of fisheries in the “United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.” This study will also discuss how the Precautionary Principle is applied in the conservation and management of fisheries. When discussing the conservation and management of fisheries the study will take into consideration global regulations, regional regulations, bilateral agreements, regulations and cases in Taiwan. We will illustrate the Precautionary Principle and how it applies to the conservation and management of fisheries and environmental protection. Taiwan has participated in the Western and Central Fisheries Commission, the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission and the North Pacific Fisheries Commission etc..., which all contain the Precautionary Principle. Taiwan’s fishery regulations seem to adopt the Precautionary Principle and it is also referred in the Act governing “Food Safety and Sanitation”, but it is not clear how the Precautionary Principle is applied to Taiwan’s substantive laws and cases. It depends on the Legislative, Administrative, and Judicial authorities to make the Precautionary Principle practical and concrete.