Liability for Pollution Damage in Vedan Vietnam Case

Abstract

The article examines the landmark Vietnamese case of environmental pollution caused by a foreign investor: Vedan Vietnam. The author examines various regimes of environmental liability in Vietnamese law in the context of this case: criminal law regime, administrative law regime, and civil law regime. Criminal law has a very limited applicability to environmental crimes. This case suggests that Vietnam authorities prefer to use administrative mechanisms even in the most serious instances of environmental crime.