Trends in the Development of Safety Legislation

Section 7 I, II of the Atomic Energy Law. however, agrees to the granting of permits even when it cannot be completely excluded that in the future, due to the construction or operation of the installation, loss may appear. As mentioned before, the regulation accepts residual risk., .  

At present it is hardly possible to foresee how safety legislation will develop in the long term. At this time it is basically possible to discern three trends which determine the actual discussion of safety legislation and which have three aims intensification of legal provisions, limitation of examination by judges, and greater consideration of technical-scientific expertise. 

Comparable self-imposed limitations on judges and statutory limitations already exist. Violation of Article 19 Para. 4 of the Basic Law which provides for due process of law for anyone against legal violation by public authorities has not yet been determined in this context. The Constitutional Court [8-15] is specific in leaving this path open  

in this connection, it can remain open, where, with regard to Art. 19 IV of the Basic Law, in the evaluation of technical standards for estimation of future loss possibiUties, the limits of the judge s review obligations are situated and whether the courts may not limit themselves to ascertain whether, in the case of knowledge gaps and uncertainties in areas of natural science and technical determinations and judgments, the limits of the resulting bandwidth have been respected. 

How the limitation of review by judges might be handled remains an open question. Possibly, for the sake of balance, the administrative process would have to be developed according to the American pattern, would have to become more formalized and equipped with judicial elements. The procedure should be an object-related democratic process rather than mere instructions of the authorities. 

---