Civil Liability of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal within the Frameworks of Iranian Law and the 1999 Protocol To Basel Convention

In the late 1980s, imposing stringent environmental regulations in industrialized countries increased the costs of eliminating hazardous waste, and thus its transport to the developing and Eastern European countries began. Following the enhancement of the amount of hazardous waste and relevant disasters in these countries, the export of such wastes was recognized as a serious business by the international community. Hence, in 1989, Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Waste and their Principle Disposal was prepared by the United Nations Environmental Program and adopted by different countries. Meanwhile, in1993, Iran became a member of the Convention subsequently referring the disposal of special waste overseas to its regulation in Article 14 of the Law on Waste Management (2005). In relation to the damages of transporting hazardous waste and its compensation, the Convention has designed an Additional Protocol; attached to the double standard of strict and fault-based liabilities with limited financial strict liability. Basel Protocol has promoted the Basel Convention regime to ensure minimum compensation through compulsory insurance, supplemental financial compensation and time limits for claims. However, unlike other international conventions on hazardous waste, it has assumed strict liability not to be undertaken by the carrier, but by the people via the temporal distribution of responsibilities.