The astreinte, derived from the Latin adstring is a process of constraint which, despite its character indirect, is very effective; it hits the debtor in his sensitive part, the portefeville, to the penalty is vast, although it is not without limits.The author reviews the evolution of the institution of penalty, judicial or conventional, limited to the comminatory measure „comminatory penalty”.  

International adoption of rules relating to damages caused by pollution is due to inappropriate and incomplete national legal systems.In these conditions, the contribution of international conventions is to qualify and quantify certain types of claims (e.g. pure economic loss caused by environmental pollution, costs of measures to prevent or limit pollution, environmental damage).