Risk Regulatory Concepts and the Law

Over the last decade risk regulatory concepts have been increasingly utilised in administrative decision making in a wide array of contexts in many different jurisdictions. These concepts have been introduced for different reasons; are regulating administrative power in a range of ways; and are not defined homogeneously. Moreover, these concepts have not gone un-criticised and these criticisms make clear that the use of risk regulatory concepts must be done with care, critical reflection, and an awareness of complexities involved in their use. The complexity of risk regulatory concepts is reflected in the many different legal dimensions of risk regulatory concepts. A study of the interface between risk regulatory concepts and these different legal dimensions highlights the fact that the operation of risk regulatory concepts is not straightforward and is always embedded in a particular cultural and legal context.