Part II Analytical Approaches, Ch.15 The Role of Science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnston Sam
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Dangerous Substances ◽  
Analytical Approaches

This chapter reflects on the crucial and multifaceted role of science in international environmental law, identifying and framing its challenges, threats, and problems. The role of science in international environmental law has been the subject of vigorous debate, focusing around competing claims concerning the need for action in almost every area of environmental regulation, such as climate change, restrictions on use of areas or resources such as fisheries, and restrictions on ‘dangerous’ substances such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The developing jurisprudence on the role of science in international environmental law articulated by various international tribunals such as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) highlights the important role that science plays in this field. The chapter then considers how science has influenced international environmental law and in turn, how international environmental law has contributed to the promotion of science. An emerging issue highlighted in the chapter is the increasing politicization of science and the need to understand the limitations of science.

scholarly journals Addressing Fragmentation and Inconsistency in International Environmental Law Analysis of the Role of Specialised or Treaty Judicial Bodies

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Dieudonne Mevono Mvogo
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
The State ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
International Court ◽  
Inconsistency Management ◽  
The Icj ◽  
Management Functions

This paper analyses the contribution of treaty or specialised judicial bodies to striking problems such as fragmentation and inconsistency within International Environmental Law (IEL) as they fill the gaps in IEL, taking advantage of the absence of an overarching International Environmental Court (IEC) and the indolence of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It argues that by helping improve the ICJ, they will help resolve IEL's jurisprudential inconsistency and fragmentation. The paper therefore first explains the sense in which jurisprudential fragmentation and inconsistency underline IEL's compliance mechanisms, and shows the limits of the state-centripetal approach of the ICJ as a solution to such a problem. Finally, it proposes a state-centrifugal paradigm that stresses how international specialised judicial bodies may help strengthen the ICJ's fragmentation and inconsistency management functions. To propose this novel approach, this paper employs legal critical methods to expose current gaps in the state-centripetal approach.

scholarly journals Third State Intervention before the International Court of Justice in International Environmental Law Cases

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Franziska Liebelt
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
State Intervention ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Icj ◽  
Nuclear Tests ◽  
The Antarctic

<p>Third state intervention before international institutions originated in international arbitration around 1875 and has been included in the statute of the International Court since the foundation of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) and is therefore no new phenomenon. Today, most systems of international dispute settlement provide for the possibility of third state intervention. Nevertheless intervention before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has been used by states sparsely and seems underdeveloped. The statute of the ICJ provides for two ways of intervention in its arts 62 and 63. There have been few applications under these provisions. Looking at the court’s orders in these few cases, the court seems to have adopted a restrictive approach towards allowing applications to intervene. This paper looks at the institution of intervention in the area of international environmental law disputes. There have been two relevant disputes of this kind before the ICJ: the Nuclear Tests litigation and the recent litigation of Whaling in the Antarctic. Both of these cases dealt with the question of state obligations towards the protection of the environment. The applications to intervene in Nuclear Tests failed for reasons that will be explained in more detail below. New Zealand’s application to intervene in Whaling in the Antarctic was authorized by the ICJ on the 6 February 2013 under art 63 of the Statute of the ICJ. The case is exceptional in that it is only the second time the ICJ allowed intervention under art 63. Both cases demonstrate that there are environmental issues that concern more than only the nations that are parties to the dispute. They indicate that intervention plays a particularly strong role in environmental issues because these issues by their nature often affect more than just two states. This paper analyses how the shared environmental concern of the international community might lead to an extension of intervention before the ICJ. It further more looks at the issues that arose before the court in connection with the intervention in Whaling in the Antarctic and how these issues were dealt with.</p>

THE PRINCIPLES OF DUE DILIGENCE AND PREVENTION IN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

2016 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rumiana Yotova
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Pulp Mills ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
San Juan River ◽  
The Icj ◽  
The Antarctic

ON 16 December 2015, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered its judgment in the joined cases of Certain Activities Carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v Nicaragua) and Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica), ICJ Reports 2015. These are the latest in a line of cases raising key principles of international environmental law before the ICJ, following Pulp Mills (2010), Aerial Herbicide Spraying and Whaling in the Antarctic (2014).

Sources of International Environmental Law

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Redgwell
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Innovative Methods ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Environmental Norms

This chapter considers the applicability to environmental problems of the traditional sources of international law, using as the starting point the formal sources enumerated in Article 38 of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Statute. It notes that leading treatises on international environmental law (IEL) and the account of the formal sources of IEL will likely start along the traditional positivist lines of Article 38. This chapter adheres to this practice to an extent—by discussing treaties, customary international law, and general principles. However, the discussion also moves on to, amongst other things, innovative methods of law creation, the dynamic evolution of environmental treaty texts, and the specific role played by soft law in the development and application of international environmental norms. The chapter concludes that, nonetheless, as a branch of general international law, the sources of international environmental law are the same.

The International Court at Fifty.

1972 ◽  
Vol 7 (02) ◽  
pp. 175-185
Author(s):  
Shabtai Rosenne
Keyword(s):  
League Of Nations ◽  
Secretary General ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Inaugural Meeting ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
United Nations General Assembly

The Permanent Court of International Justice was inaugurated on January 30, 1922. The present International Court of Justice held its inaugural meeting on April 18, 1946—the day on which the League of Nations formally ceased to exist. Measured in terms of “business”, the present Court has become a disappointment, and at the beginning of 1970 it had no pending cases on its docket. Today it has one. This situation of decline, which in fact had been evolving ever since the thirties, formed the subject of an important speech by the U.S. Secretary of State on April 25, 1970; it was also commented upon by Secretary-General U Thant in the Introduction to his annual report on the work of the organization submitted to the twenty-fifth session of the United Nations General Assembly. Following this, twelve member States initiated a debate on a new agenda item entitled: “Review of the role of the International Court of Justice”. This debate led to an interim decision inviting the Secretary-General to submit to the next session a comprehensive report, to be based on the replies of States to a questionnaire which he was asked to prepare and circulate.

The International Court of Justice: Cruising Ahead at 70

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1103-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
HUGH THIRLWAY
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Recent Case ◽  
International Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
International Court ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Jus Cogens ◽  
Peremptory Norms

AbstractThe International Court of Justice (ICJ or the Court) continues to hear and determine the contentious cases submitted to it, keeping up what has been referred to as an acceptable ‘cruising pace’. After recalling the extent to which the demands on the Court have increased, and the practical means available to it have been greatly extended, the author (following up an earlier article on the subject in the Netherlands International Law Review) examines the Court's recent case-law (decisions given since 2010) to show how each decision, besides furthering settlement of the specific dispute, has contributed to the enlargement or development of international law. Attention is concentrated, however, on particular questions: the role of peremptory norms (jus cogens); interpretation of treaties; questions of jurisdiction (including the problem of the existence of a justiciable dispute in each case); and certain incidental proceedings contemplated by the Court's Statute and Rules, namely provisional measures and intervention under Articles 62 and 63 of the Statute.

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