In the modern world, policy makers, industry and its regulators are increasingly required to take decisions in the face of unknowable or indeterminate risks. This book compares various models of risk regulation; examining national, EU and international (WTO) regulatory systems for food safety and genetically modified organisms.
Uncertain Risks Regulated compares various models of risk regulation in order to understand how these systems shape the relationship between law and science, and how they attempt to overcome public distrust in science-based decision-making. The book contributes to the ongoing debate relating to uncertainty and risks - and the difficulties faced by the European Union in particular - in regulating theses issues, taking account of both national and international constraints.
The term 'uncertain risk' is comparable with notions of hazard and indeterminate risk, as deployed within the social sciences; but it also aims to capture the modern regulatory reality that a non-quantifiable hazard must still be addressed by society, law and its regulators. Decisions must be taken in the face of uncertainty. And, whilst it is not possible to provide clear cut models of risk regulation, in focusing on regulatory practices at a national, EU and international level, the contributors to this volume aim to use fact finding as a core instrument of learning for risk regulation.
"This volume provides an excellent, important, erudite and timely addition to the Law, Science and Society series edited by J. Paterson, University of Aberdeen and J. Webb, University of Warwick. Both the volume editors and many of the contributors are leading scholars in the area of regulating uncertain risks. As can be expected, they provide insightful and original additions to the literature [...] the volume is replete with rich insights and so deserves further readings, even for those relatively familiar with risk regulation. This collection and its individual chapters will no doubt be used by those seeking to get to grips with the problem of regulating uncertain risks, and the importance of citizen participation, for many years to come." -Mark Flear, Belfast, Common Market Law Review, Vol47 Issue 2,2010
