Courts and the Environment (The IUCN Academy of Environmental Law series)

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. 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 Front Matter Copyright Contents List of figures List of contributors Courts and the Environment: An Introduction PART I: CONCEPTUALIZING THE ROLE OF COURTS INPROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT 1. The nature of courts 2. Bridging the gap between aspiration and outcomes: the roleof the court in ensuring ecologically sustainable development 3. The legitimate role of rights-based approaches toenvironmental conflict resolution PART II: TAKING THE LEAD: THE COURT ASTRAILBLAZER FOR ENVIRONMENTALPROTECTION 4. Ghana’s courts and environmental rule of law 5. Activity of the Brazilian judiciary in the Amazon andCerrado biomes aimed at combating global warming 6. Procedural and substantive innovations propounded by theIndian judiciary in balancing protection of environment anddevelopment: a legal analysis PART III: ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT 7. Inviting civil society to the table: the case of the African Commission 8. Collective environmental litigation in Colombia: an empiricalassessment 9. Are courts colour blind to country? Indigenous cultural heritage, environmental law and the Australian judicial system 10. What Chinese courts could learn from the USA: the approach of public interest litigation under the new China Environmental Protection Law 11. Protection of environmental rights of citizens in the courts of Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine 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 13. Enhancing corporate responsibilities to fulfil the right to a clean environment: a lesson learned from Indonesian courts 14. The Urgenda case: a successful example of public interest litigation for the protection of the environment? 15. US climate change adjudication: the epic journey from apetition for rulemaking to national greenhouse gas regulation 16. A review of environmental courts and tribunals for CSOs and the judiciary 17. Swedish environmental courts – specialized civil and administrative courts Index Présentation de l'éditeur : "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." "This...book examines the challenges, opportunities and solutions for courts adjudicating on environmental cases. It offers an...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 Green Tribunal in India, the Land and Environment Court in Australia, and The Hague District Court 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 preserve 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."-- Back cover