Abstract

The Law of General Bases of the Environment introduced environmental liability in Chilean legislation and to two actions (remediation and penalty). In the nineties, the Ordinary Courts of Justice were competent to hear both actions. However, after the environmental reform and the Environmental Courts creation (2012), these Tribunals have been in charge to hear the environmental remediation claims. This change would have meant, in our opinion, a further development of this institution in a more protective sense of the environment, where what the doctrine has attributed to the specialized nature of environmental Courts, made up of lawyers and technical ministers. From now on, the environmental damage concept is amplified, which is contemplated in article 52 of Law 19,300. The legal and jurisprudential evolution greatest access to justice and the effectiveness of the reparation action for environmental damage.