scholarly journals Towards extra-jurisdictional environmental management in combating transnational environmental crimes in Malaysia from a legal aspect

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2.10) ◽  
pp. 26
Author(s):  
Hanim Kamaruddin ◽  
Muhamad Azham Marwan

Environmental deterioration in Southeast Asia region can be attributed to illegal logging and timber smuggling which contributes to deforestation, wildlife smuggling, black-market transactions in ozone-depleting substances and dumping of other forms of hazardous wastes and chemical, illegal open burning incidents that can lead to air pollution contributing to transnational impacts. Controlling activities that are taking place within one State resulting to environmental impacts in another State is not uncommon in environmental issues and thus, such activities are construed as environmental crimes at times. Hence, any illegal activities within another jurisdiction must be addressed efficiently as the conduct of such activities are becoming increasingly sophisticated and complex partly due to the nature of transnational activities that operate beyond national boundaries. This article will discuss transnational environmental crime in Malaysia and Southeast Asia region and assess the application of adopting extra-jurisdictional approach to combat transnational environmental crime by drawing the example from Singapore’s experience of passing the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act 2014 to tackle challenges of haze pollution that are caused by activities in another State. The finding of this article suggests that extra-jurisdictional legislation is a common management tool in international law based on the international principle of territorial sovereign applies to conduct of a State within its territory. There seemed to be an exception that stems from a principle known as ‘objective territoriality principle’ under international law that allows another State to make claims against another State that commits environmental crime resulting to transnational impacts. The efficiency of extra-jurisdictional approach will be analysed based on Malaysia’s experiences in tackling transnational environmental crimes by reviewing domestic policies, local legislations and relevant international agreements to ensure that environmental protection is sustained. 

Author(s):  
Helena Varkkey

Transboundary haze pollution affects about half of the countries in Southeast Asia with varied intensities on an almost annual basis. Haze not only affects visibility, but also causes widespread health problems, transportation disruptions, and other socioeconomic issues. This haze, and the fires that cause it, has been a key topic for environmental politics research in the region since the late 1990s. This has largely been driven by one overarching objective: how to prevent haze from returning in the following years. However, conditions on the ground (mostly in Indonesia and in the larger Southeast Asian region) have been changing and evolving drastically. This has resulted in a very dynamic research agenda that has to keep up with these changes. Within the context of environmental politics, fires and haze can be viewed through the broad lens of national interest. There is a strong link between the severity of haze and the burgeoning agribusiness sector in the region: that of oil palm in particular. Oil palm is a very important crop in the region, with Indonesia and Malaysia making up almost 90% of total global palm oil output. Hence, national and business interest theories have often been used as a framework for research in this area, with commercial oil palm plantations often being the unit of analysis. This includes research by this author, using the patronage politics framework. However, this has been called to question lately as these plantations face increasing market pressure to act more sustainably. A new group of actors that have since been highlighted are smallholders, either independent or in contract with larger plantations. There is potentially much to be uncovered with regard to the relationships between smallholders and commercial plantations, and how this affects patterns of fire use and global sustainability issues. Related to this is the ever-evolving collection of local, regional, and national policies (and related enforcement issues) over land and fire use in Indonesia. One key area of contention is the use of peatlands. Fires on peat produce the thick, sooty smoke that travels across national boundaries, and are notoriously hard to put out. Political research in this area is heavily framed by a tough debate between the scientific community and socioeconomic concerns. While peatlands play an important role in the global climate change balance, at the same time, these peat areas face immense pressure for development fueled by the scarcity of land. The regional context has also been an important theme for haze research. Haze primarily affects the Southern Southeast Asian subregion. And the major players of the palm oil sector also come from this region. The Indonesian palm oil sector is a vibrant combination of Malaysian, Singaporean, and local companies. And ASEAN has been the hub of cooperation and mitigation activities over haze. Hence, many scholars have searched for answers at the regional level. However, new national developments like Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act suggest that countries may be losing confidence with regional efforts, which may be an indicator for future directions for solutions as well.


2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-210 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laely Nurhidayah ◽  
Shawkat Alam ◽  
Zada Lipman ◽  

Author(s):  
Peter J. Stoett

This chapter looks at whether and how international organizations and criminal law can help us deal effectively with transnational environmental crimes and, more broadly, with environmental insecurity and injustice. It explores the question of whether the climate change justice agenda can benefit from the expanded pursuit of transnational environmental crime. The chapter asks whether international environmental law, refurbished, act as a mitigating factor in climate change. It concludes that while current international legal instruments can help spur additional action, by themselves, they will prove inadequate. Consequently, one idea proposed is a new international environmental court to deter all forms of ecocide.


2008 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 387-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane A. Desierto

The development of international law in South and Southeast Asia exemplifies myriad ideological strands, historical origins, and significant contributions to contemporary international law doctrines’ formative and codification processes. From the beginnings of South and Southeast Asian participation in the international legal order, international law discourse from these regions has been thematicallypostcolonialand substantivelydevelopment-oriented.Postcolonialism in South and Southeast Asian conceptions of international law is an ongoing dialectical project of revisioning international legal thought and its normative directions — towards identifying, collocating, and applying South and Southeast Asian values and philosophical traditions alongside the Euro-American ideologies that, since the classical Post-Westphalian era, have largely infused the content of positivist international law. Of increasing necessity to the intricacies of the postmodern international legal system and its institutions is how the postcolonial project of South and Southeast Asian international legal discourse focuses on areas of international law that create the most urgent development consequences: trade, investment, and the international economic order; the law of the sea and the environment; international humanitarian law, self-determination, socio-economic and cultural human rights.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 175
Author(s):  
Ligar Yogaswara ◽  
Ligar Yogaswara

This paper analyzes how ASEAN can deal with the haze problem caused by its member countries and then cross their borders so that it becomes a common focus in ASEAN countries. Then ASEAN made an agreement for its member countries with the aim of overcoming the haze problem which was referred to in the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. Based on the question of the effectiveness of the agreement, the authors assume that the agreement is considered ineffective in solving the haze problem in the Southeast Asia Region. The reason for this is considered to be due to a set of norms adopted by ASEAN member countries in the ASEAN Way. These norms then make member countries solve problems by adhering to the principles of the ASEAN Way including non-intervention, consensus and so on. Responding to problems in developing countries in ASEAN which tend to prioritize their economy, making environmental problems such as smog tend to be sidelined. Therefore, this paper will explain more about the effectiveness of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in particular to address the haze problem in ASEAN member countries based on the ASEAN way.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 69-73
Author(s):  
Galina V. Arsenyeva ◽  
◽  
Irina S. Khramova ◽  

The article is devoted to the study of the evolution of Russian legislation on environmental crime. The empirical basis of the study was made up of legislative acts of the mid-XVII — early XX centuries. The main trends in the evolution of criminal law protection of natural objects are revealed. The authors came to the conclusion that despite a certain unsystematic and casuistic nature of the legislation establishing responsibility for environmental crimes, the provisions of legislative acts of the mid-XVII — early XX centuries served as the basis for further development of the system of environmental crimes.


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