A report by the CCARS analyses various court rulings on the risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields

16/02/2011

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  |  Source: CCARS

The Comité Científico Asesor de Radiofrecuencias y Salud (Scientific Advisory Committee on Radio Frequencies and Health) has just published the paper entitled Resoluciones judiciales sobre riesgos de exposición a campos electromagnéticos: Un singular contraste jurisprudencial sobre el significado jurídico del “estado de la ciencia”  (Court rulings on risks of exposure to electromagnetic fields: A remarkable jurisprudential contrast on the legal meaning of “state of science”). It was drafted by Professor Ricardo de Ángel Yagüez, and will form part of the Report on Radio Frequencies and Health 2009-2010, which this agency is to present shortly.



In this new position document, which is drafted as a professional paper, Professor De Angel analyses the legal concepts regarding electromagnetic fields such as “immission” and the limit of “what is tolerable”, in addition to the proper legal instruments for immissions, in general, and, specifically, those constituted by electromagnetic fields. 



The document presents a series of court rulings on claims for damages, among which the ruling of First Chamber of the Supreme Court of 19 February 2010 stands out; this establishes that the state of science is the key criterion when setting the limits of “what is tolerable” with regard to exposure to electromagnetic fields. 



In addition, other rulings relating to “regulatory actions” of the Public Administration are analysed, among which the ruling of Third Chamber of the Supreme Court of 19 April 2006 stands out; this takes the state of science as the criterion for regulatory action by the Administration and discusses the so-called “principle of precautions”). 

In addition, the document reviews different jurisprudence on municipal regulations relating to the installation of radio equipment.