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Courts and the Environment
This discerning book examines the challenges, opportunities and solutions for courts adjudicating on environmental cases. It offers a critical analysis of the practice and judgments of courts from various representative and influential jurisdictions.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
This discerning book examines the challenges, opportunities and solutions for courts adjudicating on environmental cases. It offers a critical analysis of the practice and judgments of courts from various representative and influential jurisdictions.
Through the analysis and comparison of court practices and case law across global domestic courts as varied as the National Green Tribunal in India, the Land and Environment Court in Australia, and the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands, the expert contributors bring together a wealth of knowledge in order to enhance mutual learning and understanding towards an environmental rule of law. In doing so, they illustrate that courts play a vital role in the formation and crystallization of rulings and decisions to protect and conserve the environment. Ultimately, they prove that there are many lessons to be learnt from other legal systems in seeking to maintain and enhance the environmental rule of law.
Contemporary and global in scope, Courts and the Environment is essential reading for scholars and students of environmental law, as well as judges, legal practitioners and policymakers interested in understanding the legal challenges to and the legal basis for protecting environmental values in courts.
Through the analysis and comparison of court practices and case law across global domestic courts as varied as the National Green Tribunal in India, the Land and Environment Court in Australia, and the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands, the expert contributors bring together a wealth of knowledge in order to enhance mutual learning and understanding towards an environmental rule of law. In doing so, they illustrate that courts play a vital role in the formation and crystallization of rulings and decisions to protect and conserve the environment. Ultimately, they prove that there are many lessons to be learnt from other legal systems in seeking to maintain and enhance the environmental rule of law.
Contemporary and global in scope, Courts and the Environment is essential reading for scholars and students of environmental law, as well as judges, legal practitioners and policymakers interested in understanding the legal challenges to and the legal basis for protecting environmental values in courts.
Critical Acclaim
‘This book is a survival tool for judges who are increasingly required to respond to legal action meant to protect the earth from the existential threat to human civilization posed by global warming. Christina Voigt and Zen Makuch have assembled authors who affirm that there is no greater force to protect Earth and its habitants than the environmental rule of law.’
– Michael D. Wilson, Hawaii Supreme Court, US
‘From pioneers to latecomers, the role of Courts in relation to environmental protection has oscillated in ways that make their overall contribution difficult to assess. This book is a significant addition to the mapping and stock-taking effort. It shows that, in practice, Courts are indeed playing a very important role in adapting legal systems to the need to conserve the environment.’
– Jorge E. Viñuales, University of Cambridge, UK
– Michael D. Wilson, Hawaii Supreme Court, US
‘From pioneers to latecomers, the role of Courts in relation to environmental protection has oscillated in ways that make their overall contribution difficult to assess. This book is a significant addition to the mapping and stock-taking effort. It shows that, in practice, Courts are indeed playing a very important role in adapting legal systems to the need to conserve the environment.’
– Jorge E. Viñuales, University of Cambridge, UK
Contributors
Contributors: A. Bengtsson, L. Butterly, O. Chornous, T. Daya-Winterbottom, Y.K. Dewi, G.E.K. Dzah, H.S. Ferreira, R. Guidone, D. Hodas, A. Jayadi, S. Jolly, H. Jonas, A. Kennedy, N. Kichigin, E. Lamprea, M.A. Leon Moreta, B Liu, Z. Makuch, P. Martin, R.L.M. Mendes, N.H.T. Nam, A.M. Páez, R. Pepper, B. Preston, N. Robinson, D.A. Serraglio, O. Spijkers, C. Voigt, Z. Zhang
Contents
Contents:
Part I Conceptualizing the Role of Courts in Protecting the Environment
1. The Nature of Courts
Nicholas Robinson
2. Bridging the Gap Between Aspiration and Outcomes: The role of the Court in ensuring Ecologically Sustainable Development
Brian Preston, Paul Martin and Amanda Kennedy
3. The Legitimate Role of Rights-Based Approaches to Environmental Conflict Resolution
Trevor Daya-Winterbottom
Part II Taking the Lead: The Court as Trailblazer for Environmental Protection
4. Ghana’s Courts and Environmental Rule of Law
Godwin E. K. Dzah
5. Activities of the Brazilian Judiciary Aimed at Combating Global Warming in the Amazon and Cerrado Biomes
Heline Sivini Ferreira, Diogo Andreola Serraglio and Rullyan Levi Maganhati Mendes
6. Procedural and Substantive Innovations Propounded by the Indian Judiciary in Balancing the Protection of Environment and Development: A Legal Analysis
Stellina Jolly and Zen Makuch
Part III Access to Justice for the Environment
7. Inviting Civil Society to the Table: The Case of the African Commission
Nora Ho Tu Nam
8. Collective Environmental Litigation in Colombia: An Empirical Assessment
Everaldo Lamprea and Angela M. Páez
9. Are Courts Colour Blind to Country? Indigenous Cultural Heritage, Environmental Law and the Australian Judicial System
Lauren Butterly and Rachel Pepper
10. What Chinese Courts Could Learn From the U.S.A.: The Approach of Public Interest Litigation Under the New China Environmental Protection Law
Zhuoxian Zhang
11. Protection of Environmental Rights of Citizens in the Courts of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine
Oleksandra Chornous and Nicolay Kichigin
Part IV Courts in Action
12. The Challenge of Bringing Transnational Corporations to Justice for Environmental Damage: A Case Study of Texaco Oil Company and Chevron vs Lago Agrio Plaintiffs
María Augusta León Moreta and Gloria Bingyu Liu
13. Enhancing Corporate Responsibilities to Fulfill the Right to a Clean Environment: Lessons Learned from Indonesian Courts
Yetty Komalasari Dewi and Anbar Jayadi
14. The Urgenda case: A Successful Example of Public Interest Litigation for the Protection of the Environment?
Otto Spijkers
15. U.S.A. Climate Change Adjudication: The Epic Journey from a Petition for Rulemaking to National Greenhouse Gas Regulation
David Hodas
16. A Review of Environmental Courts and Tribunals for Civil Society Organisations and the Judiciary
Ria Guidone and Holly Jonas
17. Swedish Environmental Courts – Specialized Civil and Administrative Courts
Anders Bengtsson
Index
Part I Conceptualizing the Role of Courts in Protecting the Environment
1. The Nature of Courts
Nicholas Robinson
2. Bridging the Gap Between Aspiration and Outcomes: The role of the Court in ensuring Ecologically Sustainable Development
Brian Preston, Paul Martin and Amanda Kennedy
3. The Legitimate Role of Rights-Based Approaches to Environmental Conflict Resolution
Trevor Daya-Winterbottom
Part II Taking the Lead: The Court as Trailblazer for Environmental Protection
4. Ghana’s Courts and Environmental Rule of Law
Godwin E. K. Dzah
5. Activities of the Brazilian Judiciary Aimed at Combating Global Warming in the Amazon and Cerrado Biomes
Heline Sivini Ferreira, Diogo Andreola Serraglio and Rullyan Levi Maganhati Mendes
6. Procedural and Substantive Innovations Propounded by the Indian Judiciary in Balancing the Protection of Environment and Development: A Legal Analysis
Stellina Jolly and Zen Makuch
Part III Access to Justice for the Environment
7. Inviting Civil Society to the Table: The Case of the African Commission
Nora Ho Tu Nam
8. Collective Environmental Litigation in Colombia: An Empirical Assessment
Everaldo Lamprea and Angela M. Páez
9. Are Courts Colour Blind to Country? Indigenous Cultural Heritage, Environmental Law and the Australian Judicial System
Lauren Butterly and Rachel Pepper
10. What Chinese Courts Could Learn From the U.S.A.: The Approach of Public Interest Litigation Under the New China Environmental Protection Law
Zhuoxian Zhang
11. Protection of Environmental Rights of Citizens in the Courts of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine
Oleksandra Chornous and Nicolay Kichigin
Part IV Courts in Action
12. The Challenge of Bringing Transnational Corporations to Justice for Environmental Damage: A Case Study of Texaco Oil Company and Chevron vs Lago Agrio Plaintiffs
María Augusta León Moreta and Gloria Bingyu Liu
13. Enhancing Corporate Responsibilities to Fulfill the Right to a Clean Environment: Lessons Learned from Indonesian Courts
Yetty Komalasari Dewi and Anbar Jayadi
14. The Urgenda case: A Successful Example of Public Interest Litigation for the Protection of the Environment?
Otto Spijkers
15. U.S.A. Climate Change Adjudication: The Epic Journey from a Petition for Rulemaking to National Greenhouse Gas Regulation
David Hodas
16. A Review of Environmental Courts and Tribunals for Civil Society Organisations and the Judiciary
Ria Guidone and Holly Jonas
17. Swedish Environmental Courts – Specialized Civil and Administrative Courts
Anders Bengtsson
Index
