Legal Protection of the Environment

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter Fleck
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Jus Post Bellum ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
Critical Situations

This chapter examines principles and rules on environmental protection in two critical situations: non-international armed conflicts and post-conflict peacebuilding. What kind of environmental obligations apply in bello between a government and rebels? In what sense are parties to the conflict accountable for environmental devastation? May states be liable also for injurious consequences of acts not explicitly prohibited under international law? How can their obligations be enforced? Furthermore, issues of post-conflict peacebuilding are discussed to explore whether specific principles and rules of jus post bellum are relevant for the protection of the natural environment. While certain aspects of the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts appear to be still unclear, some recommendations are developed in support of efforts currently undertaken in the International Law Commission.

scholarly journals Legal Protection of the Environment

2020 ◽  
pp. 149-164
Author(s):  
Dieter Fleck
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Jus Post Bellum ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
Critical Situations

This chapter examines principles and rules on environmental protection in two critical situations: non-international armed conflicts and post-conflict peacebuilding. What kind of environmental obligations apply in bello between a government and rebels? In what sense are parties to the conflict accountable for environmental devastation? May states be liable also for injurious consequences of acts not explicitly prohibited under international law? How can their obligations be enforced? Furthermore, issues of post-conflict peacebuilding are discussed to explore whether specific principles and rules of jus post bellum are relevant for the protection of the natural environment. While certain aspects of the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts appear to be still unclear, some recommendations are developed in support of efforts currently undertaken by the International Law Commission.

scholarly journals International Environmental Protection in Armed Conflicts: Traditional Legal Regulation and Interpretation Novelties

Lex Russica ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 84-95
Author(s):  
N. A. Sokolova
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Natural Environment ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Wide Range

The paper is devoted to international legal protection of the environment during armed conflicts. The author emphasizes that armed conflicts, both international and non-international, continue to be one of the most serious threats to a healthy environment. An armed conflict taking place in the environment invariably poses a threat to ecosystems.The author summarizes that in international law there are special norms for the protection of natural environment during armed conflicts. At the same time, increasing the level of protection requires a clearer definition of the scope of application of customary law and the further development of treaty rules. While the objectives of protecting the natural environment are linked to the survival and protection of civilians, recognition of environmental protection during armed conflict as such constitutes an important trend. International law calls on States to enter into agreements that provide for additional protection of the natural environment during armed conflicts. The concept of “protecting the natural environment” in international humanitarian law refers to a wide range of obligations that can help protect the natural environment or its parts from damage. A high threshold for potential harm continues to pose the risk that such protection is not fully applicable in practice. There is an obvious tendency to use the potential of the principles of international environmental law when applying the norms of international humanitarian law. Thus, even in cases where the assessment of new means and methods of warfare does not provide scientific certainty with regard to their impact on the natural environment, this does not absolve the parties to the conflict from taking appropriate precautions. It is not enough that there are important rules of international humanitarian law protecting the natural environment during armed conflict; they need to be better disseminated, implemented and enforced, as well as validated and clarified.

The Work of the International Law Commission, 2007–2011: Progress and Prospects

2012 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald McRae
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Un General Assembly ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Transboundary Aquifers ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
The Way

On November 17, 2011, the UN General Assembly elected the members of the International Law Commission for the next five years. In the course of the quinquennium that was completed in August 2011 with the end of the sixty-third session, the Commission concluded four major topics on its agenda: the law of transboundary aquifers, the responsibility of international organizations, the effect of armed conflicts on treaties, and reservations to treaties. It was by any standard a substantial output. The beginning of a new quinquennium now provides an opportunity to assess what the Commission has achieved, to consider the way it operates, and to reflect on what lies ahead for it.

Protecting the Environment During and After Armed Conflict, the International Law Commission and an Overdue Due Diligence Duty for Corporations

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 314-343
Author(s):  
Alexandra Wormald
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Stakeholder Consultation ◽  
Global Consensus ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

Abstract Recent years have seen a rising global consensus on the need to ensure appropriate protections for the environment during and after armed conflict. In this context, the International Law Commission provisionally adopted 28 draft principles on the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts in July 2019. With stakeholder consultation having concluded in June 2021, this article investigates what practical impacts the corporate due diligence and liability provisions in the draft principles are likely to have on the protection of the environment during and after armed conflict, should the principles be implemented as currently drafted.

scholarly journals Dilemmas over individual and state responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law

2004 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-369
Author(s):  
Keneth Mengjo
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Issues ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
State Responsibility ◽  
Human Suffering ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

This paper attempts an explanation to some of the complex legal issues surrounding the whole concept of responsibility for violations of international humanitarian law. The arguments here are based on reflections on the draft articles on the responsibility of states for the violations of international humanitarian law adopted by the international law commission as well as opinions of experts on the subject, treaties, conventions international jurisprudence, and internationally recognized principles and customs that govern conduct in armed conflicts so as to limit human suffering particularly of non combatants.

scholarly journals Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters and Other Topics: The Sixty-Eighth Session of the International Law Commission

2016 ◽  
Vol 110 (4) ◽  
pp. 718-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean D. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Crimes Against Humanity ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
United Nations General ◽  
Insufficient Time ◽  
Limitations And Exceptions ◽  
Jus Cogens ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission held its sixty-eighth session in Geneva from May 2 to June 10, and from July 4 to August 12, 2016, under the chairmanship of Pedro Comissário Afonso (Mozambique). Notably, the Commission completedonsecond reading a full set of eighteen draft articles with commentaries on the protection of persons in the event of disasters and recommended to the United Nations General Assembly that it elaborate a convention based on the draft articles.Additionally, the Commission adopted on first reading a complete set of draft conclusions, with commentaries, for two topics: identification of customary international law; and subsequent agreements and subsequent practice in relation to the interpretation of treaties. As such, both topics might be completed by the Commission on second reading in 2018.Progress was also made in developing draft articles on crimes against humanity; draft guidelines on protection of the atmosphere; draft conclusions on jus cogens; and draft principles on protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts. The Commission commenced a debate on a proposed draft article on “limitations and exceptions” to the immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, but, due to insufficient time, the debate will continue in 2017. Furthermore, an additional proposed guideline on the provisional application of treaties was sent to the drafting committee. The Commission decided to add two new topics to its long-term work program: the settlement of international disputes to which international organizations are parties; and succession of states in respect of state responsibility.

The International Law Commission's Draft Articles on the Effects of Armed Conflicts on Treaties: Evaluating the Applicability of Impossibility of Performance and Fundamental Change

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-76
Author(s):  
Benny TAN Zhi Peng
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Controversial Issue ◽  
Vienna Convention ◽  
Fundamental Change ◽  
Insufficient Attention ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

The International Law Commission recently completed its work on the controversial issue of the effects of armed conflicts on treaties, culminating in the adoption of a set of eighteen draft articles and an annex. The Commission's efforts are nothing short of commendable, but this article argues that insufficient attention has been paid to the role of supervening impossibility of performance and fundamental change of circumstances in determining the effects of armed conflicts on treaties. Although both doctrines may in fact appropriately apply in the context of armed conflicts, the mere referencing of them in the adopted draft articles gives rise to several problems. In particular, the two doctrines were codified by the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties without their application to armed conflicts in mind. Some changes to the draft articles are proposed to address these difficulties.

10 Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bothe Michael
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Environmental Consequences ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Work Programme ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission

This chapter describes the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict. Armed conflicts have had serious consequences on the environment which may last a long time after a conflict has ended. Starting in the 1970s, the matter of the protection of the environment during times of armed conflict became the object of political initiatives and controversy. In recent years, efforts to develop, or at least codify, international law concerning the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflict were revived. In 2011, the International Law Commission (ILC) decided to include the topic ‘Protection of the Environment in relation to Armed Conflict’ to its work programme. The formulation of the subject means that the ILC is not only concerned with environmental damage caused during armed conflict, but also with measures that might be taken in peacetime and with environmental consequences of an armed conflict after the end of the conflict, for example toxic remnants of war.

scholarly journals Critical perspectives on environmental protection in non-international armed conflict: Developing the principles of distinction, proportionality and necessity

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 759-779
Author(s):  
Tara Smith
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Critical Examination ◽  
Ongoing Debate ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Military Necessity ◽  
International Law Commission ◽  
Law Commission ◽  
Critical Perspectives

AbstractThis article presents a timely and relevant critical examination of the customary international law principles of distinction and proportionality, and the doctrine of military necessity and the extent to which they can be better interpreted to protect the environment during the conduct of hostilities in non-international armed conflict. In so doing, this article contributes new perspectives to the ongoing debate on how environmental protection ought to be enhanced during non-international armed conflict. The article also suggests ways in which the International Law Commission (ILC) might approach the development of draft principles based on these customary principles as part of their current programme of work.

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