Minor infringements in waste management

Abstract

The legislator obligated environmental authorities in Hungarian waste management regulation to dispense with fine in special cases. It is possible to dispense with fine, if the authority considers that the infringement is so minor that the application of penalty or measure is not required. Regulation, however, does not give any guideline or any objective starting point about the fact what kind of infringement can be considered minor. It became the task of the case-law to fill specific provision of the law with content. In my study I try to find solution in the light of judicial decisions whether authorities and, in the final judgement, courts manage to define aspects which take closer to the concept of minor infringements.