FINLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Kari Marttinen, Laura Leino, Outi Iso-Markku and Aino Lahti-Nuuttila, Erottaja Attorneys Ltd
10.2 Exemplary or Punitive Damages Finnish law does not recognise any exemplary or puni- tive damages. Therefore, it is not possible to award compensation beyond the damage actually caused. 10.3 Class or Group Actions Class or group actions are not possible for environ- mental-related civil claims in Finland. 10.4 Landmark Cases In Supreme Court case KKO 2015:21 concerning nui- sance, the Supreme Court decided that even though the Act on Compensation for Environmental Damage is applied as a general law, in some cases the preced- ing Neighbouring Act (No 26/1920) ( laki eräistä naapu- ruussuhteista ) could be applicable when considering compensation. 11. Contractual Agreements 11.1 Transferring or Apportioning Liability Indemnities and other contractual agreements can be used to transfer or apportion liability for incidental damage or breaches of law; however, such contractual agreements are only binding inter partes. Indemnities and other contractual agreements are not binding on regulators or other authorities or the parties suffering damage (if not contracting parties themselves). 12. Contaminated Land 12.1 Key Laws Governing Contaminated Land The provisions governing remediation of contami- nated land depend on when the contamination was caused, as follows. • The Environmental Protection Act (and its prede- cessor) applies to soil pollution caused after 1994. • The repealed Waste Management Act (No 673/1978) ( jätehuoltolaki ) applies to soil pollution caused by an activity that took place on or after 1 April 1979 but before 1994. • Soil pollution caused by an activity that has com- pletely ceased operating before 1 April 1979 is governed by inconclusive case law.
Under the Environmental Protection Act, the operator has a general obligation to prevent pollution and a specific prohibition on causing any pollution of soil. If the activities cause or may directly result in environ- mental pollution, the operator must take the appropri- ate action without delay in order to prevent pollution or – if pollution has already resulted – to reduce it to a minimum. The operator whose operations have caused the pol- lution of soil has an obligation to restore the polluted soil. Indicative concentration thresholds for several hazardous substances in soil and guidance for the risk assessment regarding remediation are established in the Government Decree on Contaminated Soil (No 214/2007) ( valtioneuvoston asetus maaperän pilaan- tuneisuuden ja puhdistustarpeen arvioinnista ). 12.2 Clearing Contaminated Land Party Responsible for Contaminated Land The Finnish regulation regarding liability for contami- nated land is based on the overriding “polluter pays principle” – according to which, the operator carrying out polluting activity must restore the contaminated land to a condition that will not cause harm to health or the environment, nor present a hazard to the envi- ronment. However, if the polluter cannot be established or reached – or cannot be forced to fulfil its remediation duty – and the contamination occurred with the con- sent of the occupier (owner or tenant, as applicable) or the occupier knew or should have known the state of the area when it was acquired, the occupier must restore the soil insofar as this is not clearly unreason- able. Where the polluter or the occupier of the polluted area cannot be required to remedy the contaminated soil, the municipality must establish the need for and conduct soil remediation. Possibility of Transferring Liability to a Purchaser Public liability for the remediation of contaminated soil enforced by the authorities under the Environmental Protection Act (or earlier legislation) cannot be trans- ferred to a purchaser. Therefore, under the aforemen- tioned legislation, the authority may direct its orders towards whoever has contributed to the contamina- tion.
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