Regulatory Policies and International Treaties

2002 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Advisory Group ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
National Environmental Policy Act ◽  
Regulatory Structure ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
The Law ◽  
Privately Financed

The purpose of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is to ensure that all federally administered or assisted programs are conducted so as to take the environmental impact of their activity into consideration. The scope of NEPA includes privately financed and conducted projects for which federal licensing is required. The law also establishes a presidential advisory group called the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The crucial section of the act (U.S. Code, Title 102, Pt. 2c), which concerns the environmental impact statement (EIS), states, in part, that The Congress authorizes and directs that, to the fullest extent possible . . . all agencies of the Federal Government shall . . . include in every recommendation or report on proposal for legislation and other major Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment, a detailed statement by the responsible official on: •The environmental impact of the proposed action, • Any adverse environmental effects which cannot be avoided should the proposal be implemented, • Alternatives to the proposed action, • The relationship between local, short-term uses of man’s environment and maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and • Any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources which would be involved in the proposed action should it be implemented. Environment in this context refers not only to wilderness, water, air, and other natural resources. It has a broader meaning that includes health, aesthetics, and pleasing surroundings. Although the law requires an EIS, it does not say anything about what conditions would be required in order to carry out the project. Moreover, NEPA does not give more weight to environmental considerations than it gives to other national goals. Thus the decision about implementation of a program is left to the courts. In practice, few projects have ever been halted by a court decision under NEPA. However, some projects have been abandoned or modified, before being challenged in court, because of NEPA. Figure 15.1 shows the framework of the federal environmental regulatory structure. Four federal agencies cover the environmental aspects of the national policy.

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Rise of Environmental Protection in the 1970s, and the Political Drama of the Next Three Decades

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
James K. Conant ◽  
Peter J. Balint
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Environmental Impact Statement ◽  
National Environmental Policy Act ◽  
Environmental Impact Statements ◽  
Run Up ◽  
National Environmental ◽  
National Environmental Policy

The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was approved unanimously in the Senate and with near unanimity in the House of Representatives in December 1969. President Nixon signed the act into law on January 1, 1970. The new statute was both brief and farsighted. In fewer than 3,500 words the congressional authors of NEPA articulated for the first time a national policy on the environment, set in motion an innovative regulatory process centered on environmental impact statements, institutionalized public participation in federal environmental decision making, and introduced the requirement that the president report annually to Congress on the nation’s environmental status and trends. NEPA also included a provision that established a new agency, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), in the Executive Office of the President. The CEQ’s assigned statutory role was to implement the environmental impact statement process, prepare the president’s annual environmental report on the condition of the environment, develop policy proposals for solving environmental problems, and coordinate efforts across the federal government to address environmental concerns. As stated in the law, NEPA is designed to “encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment”; to “promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man”; and to “fulfill the responsibilities of each generation as trustee of the environment for succeeding generations.” The references to promoting harmony between people and the environment, protecting the biosphere, and affirming the nation’s responsibility for environmental stewardship illustrate an understanding of the scope, scale, and significance of environmental matters that was significantly ahead of its time. The language in NEPA quoted above anticipated by twenty years the concern for the Earth’s biosphere and the concept of environmental sustainability that would become more widely articulated in the run-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. Moreover, NEPA has had an enduring global impact. By the law’s fortieth anniversary, a majority of U.S. states had established their own environmental impact statement requirements and more than 160 nations worldwide had adopted similar legislation.

Educated Guesses: Health Risk Assessment in Environmental Impact Statements

1990 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-427
Author(s):  
Pamela D. Harvey
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
National Environmental Policy Act ◽  
The Public ◽  
Environmental Impact Statements ◽  
National Environmental ◽  
Scientific Tool ◽  
Predicted Risk

Environmental pollution threatens public health. The search for solutions has advanced the frontiers of science and law. Efforts to protect the environment and public health begin with describing potential adverse consequences of human activities and characterizing the predicted risk. The National Environmental Policy Act requires the preparation of environmental impact statements to describe the effects of proposed federal projects and provide information for agency decisionmakers and the public.Risks to public health are particularly difficult to quantify because of uncertainty about the relation between exposure to environmental contamination and disease. Risk assessment is the current scientific tool to present estimates of risk. The methodology has created controversy, however, when underlying assumptions and uncertainties are not clearly presented. Critics caution that the methodology is vulnerable to bias. This Note evaluates the use of risk assessment in the environmental impact statement process and offers recommendations to ensure informed decisions.

Temporary application of international treaties: legal aspects

2021 ◽  
pp. 58-62
Author(s):  
Veronika Shcherbyna ◽  
Ivanna Maryniv
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Main Body ◽  
Legal Institution ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Provisional Application ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Law

Problem setting. Nowadays the problem of the provisional application of treaties can be described as actual. It is no accident that it has been the subject of the attention of the United Nations International Law Commission with the task of elaborating the most important problems of international law. Furthermore, the above-mentioned subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly recognized the need to analyze the provisional application of treaties, the need for the progressive development and codification of international law in respect of the topic dealt with in this article. Аnalysis of research and publications. Aspects of the problem of provisional application of treaties are reflected primarily in the works of in the works of I.I. Lukashuk, O.V. Kyivets, O.V. Pushniak, I.I. Maryniv, T. Leber. Target of research is to describe the legal institution of the provisional introduction of international treaties and to find reasons for its use. Article’s main body. The article is devoted to the question of the temporary use of an international treaty as a fundamental institution of international law. The study discusses the need for provisional application of treaties. Attention was paid to the works of legal academics, who had considered this issue, their works and summaries were reviewed regarding the question under consideration. The author analyzed the formulations of the article 25 of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. Legal aspects and shortcomings were considered. First of all, it was noted that there is no definition of the temporary application of international treaties in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and article 25 of the Convention had been criticized for being difficult to understand and lacking legal precision. In the article, the author noted that in general, the provisional use takes place before the entry into force of the treaty, when countries have not yet completed the necessary internal state procedures for its entry into force and have not internationally expressed consent to be bound. The author also stressed that the application of the treaty before it enters into force or will enter in the moment when it is implemented, the parties will address to their commitments and thus the object of the treaty would disappear. The author highlighted another legal aspect of the international legal institution under consideration is that, in order to implement the institution of provisional application of treaties, A special law and regulations may be enacted in domestic law (constitutional and legislative). What is more, the author mentioned that it is appropriate to devote attention to the work of the father of the national science on the law of international treaties I.I. Lukashuk. Conclusions. The author concluded that the institution of the provisional use of treaties is one of the key institutions in the law of treaties enabling the parties to urgently address cooperation issues. Another conclusion of the author of this article is that countries resort to this legal instrument under consideration for several reasons: urgent resolution of issues to which the relevant treaties apply; the desire of countries to adopt and immediately implement confidence-building measures; preventing time gaps in the operation of a number of international treaties, which have been successively adopted and replace each other on the same subject.

scholarly journals How to build a nation: ethnosocial management and academic science in a problem field of state national policy

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 124-124
Author(s):  
Elena A. Erokhina
Keyword(s):  
Strategic Planning ◽  
Ethnic Diversity ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Ethnic Politics ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Academic Science ◽  
Legislative Initiative ◽  
The Law ◽  
Soviet Russia

The paper presents an analysis of strategic planning documents in the field of ethnic politics of post-Soviet Russia. A case study of a legislative initiative known as the “law on the Russian nation” is considered. It is concluded that the reception of nationalism in the practice of ethnosocial management is the result of borrowing Westernized models of ethnic diversity management.

scholarly journals Legislative regulation of powers of local government bodies in the field of environmental protection

2021 ◽  
pp. 96-100
Author(s):  
M.M. Slivka ◽  
N.V. Lesko
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessment ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Primary Control ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Legislative Regulation ◽  
The Law

The article is devoted to the study of legislative regulation of the powers of local governments in the field of environmental protection and the development of proposals for their improvement. It is noted that local governments occupy an separate and independent place in the mechanism of public administration, which indicates their special administrative and legal status. It is emphasized that local self-government bodies should be endowed with a sufficient amount of powers that would allow them to protect the interests of the administrative-territorial community in the field of environmental protection as effectively as possible. It is stated that the Constitution as the Basic Law of the state, taking into account the global importance of the issue of environmental protection should clearly and without any ambiguity in interpretation contain an article according to which local governments will be empowered to exercise primary control over environmental protection. natural environment at the local level and bringing perpetrators to justice. It is proposed to supplement Article 15 of the Law of Ukraine «On Environmental Protection», which defines the powers of local councils in the field of environmental protection, paragraph «й» of the following content: "decide to bring to administrative responsibility those guilty of violating legislation in the field of environmental protection environment of individuals and / or legal entities ". It is highlighted that based on the analysis of Part 4 of Art. 42 of the Law of Ukraine «On Local Self-Government in Ukraine», village, town, city mayor have a wide range of powers, but among these powers there are no ones that would give them the right to monitor compliance with environmental legislation in the region and bring perpetrators to justice. It is emphasized that local governments are given broad powers in terms of controling the activities of economic entities and they should be included as a subject of a lawsuit in accordance with Art. 16 of the Law of Ukraine "On Environmental Impact Assessment" in case of violations in the field of environmental impact assessment.

Stages of the formation of treaty law in the history of international law

2021 ◽  
pp. 90-95
Author(s):  
Marina Okladnaya ◽  
Anastasia Pererodova
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Main Body ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
International Treaty ◽  
Treaty Law ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Law ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
Historical Periods

Problem setting. An international treaty is an agreement between two or more subjects of international relations concerning the establishment, modification or termination of mutual rights and obligations. In modern time an international treaty is the universal and primary source of international law and, at the same time, the law of treaties as a branch of international law occupies a central place in this system. The role of the treaty is constantly increasing, so it is important to study how treaty law was formed in order to understand how it has changed over history, and what factors have influenced the formation of the main branch of international law. Analysis of recent researches and publications. The law of international treaties causes increased attention of lawyers to the study, research and analysis of its main aspects. Among the domestic and foreign scholars who have made a significant contribution to the study of the law of treaties can be distinguished such as V. Butkevich, Y. Brownlie, A. Talalaev, O. Merezhko, O. Nazarenko, F. Martens, V. Shurshalov, I. Lukashuk, O. Zadorozhniy and others. Target of research. Study of international treaty at different stages of formation of international law, analysis and comparison of forms, content, functions and significance of the treaty in different historical periods. Article’s main body. The article is devoted to the development and formation of the basic branch of international law – treaty law. It studies the stages of formation of the institute of treaty law during different periods of history, identifies the features of the treaty at each stage of formation. Conclusions and prospects for the development. The agreement is an important and necessary instrument of interaction and communication between people, it establishes ties between peoples and states, helps to resolve conflicts, that is why the signing of treaties is a significant mechanism for the regulation of human relations since ancient times. In this article we have traced how different historical periods influenced the formation of international treaty law, which events were of key importance for the development of international law in general. Throughout the history of international law, the treaty has undergone a number of transformations of its forms, types and procedures of conclusion. The treaty form of consolidation of international relations is the basis of stability and efficiency of the legal order in international law. At the present time, the law of international treaties is a self-sufficient, developed branch and system of international law. It is the key branch of international law with its institutions, low basic principles, and continues to develop rapidly and irreversibly.

Cyber crime, computer crime or cyber offense? The analysis of the features of a terminology application

2021 ◽  
pp. 85-90
Author(s):  
R. Baranenko
Keyword(s):  
Computer Networks ◽  
Cyber Security ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Computer Systems ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
Computer Crime ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Computer Data ◽  
Criminal Offenses ◽  
The Law

Today cybercrime and computer terrorism are identified as one of the threats to Ukraine’s national security in the information sphere. Cybersecurity measures include achieving and maintaining security features in the resources of an institution or users, aimed at preventing relevant cyber threats. Cybercrime is a set of criminal offenses committed in cyberspace by computer systems or by using computer networks and other means of access to cyberspace, within computer systems or networks, as well as against computer systems, computer networks and computer data, has been widely developed. The paper considers such terms as «computer crime», «information crime», «crime in the field of computer information», «crimes in the field of information technology». Scientific works of domestic and foreign researchers on the issues of countering cybercrime are analyzed. The connection of the concept of «cybersecurity» with the terms «cybercrime», «computer crime» and «cybercrime» the concepts of «cybercrime» was given. The difference in the interpretation of the concepts «cybersecurity» and «information security» was considered. The definitions of «cybercrime», «computer crime» and «cyber offense» were given for comparison. Their main features were considered. The concept of «computer victimhood» and its components were considered. With the introduction of the institute of criminal offenses in the national criminal law, the terms «cybercrime» and «computer crime» should lose their relevance, as evidenced by the change of title of Chapter XVI of the Criminal Code of Ukraine to «Criminal offenses in the use of electronic computing machines (computers), systems and computer networks and telecommunications networks». Therefore, instead, we can recommend the use of the term «cyber offense», which we propose to understand as «socially dangerous criminal act in cyberspace and/or using it, liability for which is provided by the law of Ukraine on criminal liability and/or which is recognized as a criminal offense by international treaties of Ukraine, and cybercrime is a set of cyber offences». It is clear that this will require the introduction of appropriate terminological changes in the Law of Ukraine «On the Basic Principles of Cyber Security of Ukraine» and other regulations.

Part 2 National and Regional Reports, Part 2.5 Latin America: Coordinated by Lauro Gama and José Antonio Moreno Rodríguez, 59 Costa Rica: Costa Rican Perspectives on the Hague Principles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chan Anayansy Rojas ◽  
París Mauricio
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
International Law ◽  
Costa Rican ◽  
Private International Law ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Commercial Arbitration ◽  
The Hague ◽  
The Law ◽  
Local Courts ◽  
Article 5

This chapter assesses Costa Rican perspectives on the Hague Principles. Costa Rica does not have a systematic and codified system that regulates conflicts of law, usually known in Costa Rica as private international law (PIL). Instead, the main sources of PIL in Costa Rica are: (i) international treaties; (ii) the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedures, and other domestic laws; and (iii) the Law on International Commercial Arbitration. In general, Costa Rica’s private international law regime, applicable to international commercial contracts, allows for parties to select the law of their choice as long as it does not breach public policy or harm a third party’s interest. According to Article 5 of the Organizational Law of the Judiciary, courts cannot excuse themselves from exercising their authority or from ruling in matters of their competence for lack of a rule to apply and they must do so in accordance with the written and unwritten rules. Unwritten rules refer to the general principles of law, usages and practices, and case law, according to the hierarchical order of their legal sources. Such rules serve to interpret, integrate, and delimit the field of application of law. Therefore, the local courts have limited themselves to only apply domestic law and have consequently restrained themselves from applying the Hague Principles or other soft law instruments as a persuasive authority source.

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