RISKS, SCIENTIFIC UNCERTAINTY AND THE APPROACH OF APPLYING PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE

The paper intends to clarify the nature and aspects of risks and scientific uncertainty and also to elaborate the approach of application of precautionary principle for the purpose of handling the risk arising from scientific uncertainty. It explains the relations between risks and the application of precautionary principle at international and domestic levels. In the situations where an international treaty has admitted the precautionary principle and in the situation where there is no international treaty admitting the precautionary principle or enumerating the conditions to take measures, the precautionary principle has a role to play. The paper proposes a decision making tool, containing questions to be asked, to help policymakers to apply the principle. It also proposes a "weighing and balancing" procedure to help them decide the contents of the measure to cope with the potential risk and to avoid excessive measures.