Precaution, Precaution Everywhere: Developing a ‘Common Understanding’ of the Precautionary Principle in the European Community

There seems to be a new and very popular game called ‘precaution spotting’. The rules are very simple – each contestant gains points for collecting examples of the precautionary principle in different jurisdictions, whether they be national, trans-national or international. As the principle is now quite frequently included in both international and domestic policy, citing examples of it being mentioned in policy is probably only worth a point. Inclusion as a relevant consideration in legislation or an international treaty is worth 2 points and as a binding legal duty – 4 points. The value in points of court decisions and the official reasons of dispute resolution bodies also varies. Passing mention of it is only worth about 3 points, non-binding discussion of the principle – 6 points, and an all out decision forcing it to be applied is worth a hefty 10 points. A series of cases or a fully realized precautionary regulatory regime are of course the greatest quarries and they are worth a whacking 20