Courts And The Environment

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.

"'Environment in the Courtroom' provides extensive insight into Canadian environmental law. Covering key environmental concepts and the unique nature of environmental damage, environmental prosecutions, sentencing and environmental offences, evidentiary issues in environmental processes and hearings, issues associated with site inspections, investigations, and enforcement, and more, this collection has the potential to make a significant difference at the level of understanding and practice. Containing perspective and insight from experienced and prominent Canadian legal practitioners and scholars, Environment in the Courtroom addresses the Canadian provinces and territories and provides context by comparison to the United States and Australia"--Provided by the publisher.

This book provides a critical assessment of the New South Wales Land and Environmental Court (NSWLEC). Effective adjudication has become a key consideration for environmental lawyers. One of the most important questions is whether environmental law frameworks need their own courts, with the conclusion being: yes they do. Here, a pioneer of such a court, the NSWLEC is forensically examined to see what it might teach other such courts. Showing a court 'in action' it suggests models that practitioners and policy makers might follow. It also speaks to the environmental law scholars, setting out a conceptual framework for studying such courts as legal institutions. This multi-faceted collection is invaluable to scholars and practitioners alike.

Evaluates the fundamental legitimacy of judicial practice in the growing number of environmental cases heard before international courts.

The global phenomenon of the establishment of specialist courts is one of the most important recent developments in environmental law. Although they are generally seen as a much needed innovation, they do pose challenges, particularly around questions of legitimacy. This important book tackles these questions directly, looking specifically at the courts in the common law world. It argues that to fully understand the nature of the adjudication of these courts, a bottom-up approach must be taken: ie the question before the court is determinative. Despite its theoretical focus, the book will also provide invaluable insights to practitioners engaging with these new courts for the first time. An innovative study on a seismic change in how environmental law is adjudicated.

A comprehensive examination of international environmental litigation which addresses the major environmental challenges of the twenty-first century.

This important book investigates the environmental legal frameworks, court structures and relevant jurisprudence of nineteen countries, representing legal systems and legal cultures from a diverse array of countries situated across the globe. In doing so, it distils comparative trends, new developments, and best practices in adjudication endeavours, highlighting the benefits and shortcomings of the judicial approach to environmental governance.

Do trees have legal rights? What risks to the environment should we legally try to control or prevent? In this updated edition of Green Justice, the authors further explore the interrelationship between the legal system and the environment, using key environmental law cases (over half of which are new selections) on such topics as population and bi