How the application of compensation legislations has a great impact on country development policies…
The compensation concept and philosophy have old roots that stem from the co-responsibility between different partners towards each other and the public community or the country, then regulations and laws have been issued to handle the rights and duties related to the different co-partners of human activities in countries worldwide.
Developed countries prepared a group of well-issued strict regulations and laws for dealing with most of the different compensation cases for individuals, companies, organizations, and governments and tried to cover the most human activities to be included in that laws and legislations. The compensation concept value and its philosophy come from the great impact that compensation regulations have on economic stability, investment safety, and development plans for the individual as well as governmental organizations through keeping all rights protected and applying strict rules on damages and losses which affect others as well as the surrounding environment. These regulations force them to carry their responsibilities to the other parties and pay suitable compensation in the form of money, service, or repair for the occurred damage.
The energy industry is one of the most vital sectors related to compensation cases. Accidents may have an impact on economic development, due to unforeseen incidents that may or may not involve energy industry activities, and could negatively affect individuals, the environment, and society. There is no doubt that the compensation concept is essential for achieving balanced development for all parties and it is considered a key element in achieving justice through a well-studied group of legislations and regulations that can organize the tight relationship between the partners within any activity, economic or social or environmental, while protecting the public’s rights. Throughout the last decades, environmental protection has been a top priority globally; most countries set a huge budget for dealing with the different challenges of environment conservation, then environment protection, and conservation subject has been regulated through a new group of laws and legislations, like environment protection law # 4 / 1994 in Egypt. One of the most important articles in environment protection laws is compensation for removing negative environmental impact resulting from economic/industrial activities by cleaning or clearing the environment from pollution.
Energy industries have often been associated with negative environmental impacts and environmental pollution/damage many times. Legislated compensations have been developed strictly for the sector to avoid an environmental crisis and high-cost invoices for the resolution of environmental negative effects or pollution that may be related to the activities of the energy industry and hydrocarbon production.
On other hand, the compensation legislations and regulations aim to protect the rights of individuals, organizations, the governmental rights by resolving any disputes that appear during contract implementation between the operators and contractors in a proper manner to maintain a healthy investment climate.
The main objective of regulating compensations through strict legislations is not just to punish those responsible for mistakes but it is legal framework for organizing the relationship between the contractors themselves and between contractors and different governmental parties to ensure a win-win situation for everyone.
Compensation legislations is need to be regularly updated to be compatible with new economic activities and technological projects, which may have a deep social and environmental impact. It will need strict guarantees and sophisticated protection mechanisms to avoid social or environmental crises.
The costs of compensation may be a financial burden for any parties within a contract but it can be considered as a boundary between the different stakeholders even if it is between the state and business developers or between investors to avoid a big loss for any given party. In addition, it can be considered an effective tool for enforcing the laws & rules in a respectful manner..
The compensating principle may be used for executing quality assurance measures in megaprojects with regards to design, materials, and timing.
Contractual compensation is categorized under three groups, individuals’ compensations, organizations/companies compensations, and governmental compensations. All three categories are included in compensation legislations in detail, covering all probable dispute cases and deserved compensations for each contracting party.
Compensation legislations application mechanisms can be different from one country to another. In some countries, it has to get court decision and in other countries, it may be applied through an official governmental decision. These types of cases should be promptly resolved due its serious effect on the economic atmosphere in the country.
The governmental commitment towards compensations cases is essential for creating a good legal environment for economic and business development & attracting new capitals to its local economy. At the same time, the government has to achieve all of its contract duties toward its investors/contractors to ensure their trust, safety, and avoid any disputes relating to co-contracts with those investors by application of clear, fair, and realistic contractual legislations.
Nobody can deny the importance of applying compensation principles through clear, detailed, integrated strict legislations and regulations in environmental protection cases, especially when these types of cases entail a severe environmental and social impacts.
Values and morality are the most vital protocols of the well-reputed international enterprises/companies in addition to legal commitment and respecting the laws; then they could be able to avoid burdens of penalties and compensations.
