Environmental Law Before The Courts

This book sheds light on the latest trends in environmental law by analyzing some of the main sectors of law, including administrative law, constitutional law, EU law, US Law, and human rights law. It explores the evolution of these sectors before courts and tribunals from a US-EU perspective and from the perspectives of some of the foremost academics and justices from the major jurisdictions. Supranational and national courts, both in Europe and in the US, have delivered significant environmental judgements in recent years. The corresponding case law reflects how, in many jurisdictions, environmental and climate litigation continues to expand exponentially as a tool to strengthen environmental protection, whether by pushing national governments to be more ambitious or by enforcing existing statutes and regulations. Courts, particularly after the Paris Agreement, are increasingly seeking their own role as an important player in multilevel environmental governance. Courts in both the US and EU are at the forefront of this process and their role in shaping environmental rule of law will be fundamental in the near future.

"'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 handbook is intended to enable national judges in all types of tribunals in both civil law and common law jurisdictions to identify environmental issues coming before them and to be aware of the range of options available to them in interpreting and applying the law. It seeks to provide judges with a practical guide to basic environmental issues that are likely to arise in litigation. It includes information on international and comparative environmental law and references to relevant cases."--P. iii.

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.

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.

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.

The unprecedented expansion in environmental regulation over the past thirty years—at all levels of government—signifies a transformation of our nation's laws that is both palpable and encouraging. Environmental laws now affect almost everything we do, from the cars we drive and the places we live to the air we breathe and the water we drink. But while enormous strides have been made since the 1970s, gaps in the coverage, implementation, and enforcement of the existing laws still leave much work to be done. In The Making of Environmental Law, Richard J. Lazarus offers a new interpretation of the past three decades of this area of the law, examining the legal, political, cultural, and scientific factors that have shaped—and sometimes hindered—the creation of pollution controls and natural resource management laws. He argues that in the future, environmental law must forge a more nuanced understanding of the uncertainties and trade-offs, as well as the better-organized political opposition that currently dominates the federal government. Lazarus is especially well equipped to tell this story, given his active involvement in many of the most significant moments in the history of environmental law as a litigator for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division, an assistant to the Solicitor General, and a member of advisory boards of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the World Wildlife Fund, and the Environmental Defense Fund. Ranging widely in his analysis, Lazarus not only explains why modern environmental law emerged when it did and how it has evolved, but also points to the ambiguities in our current situation. As the field of environmental law "grays" with middle age, Lazarus's discussions of its history, the lessons learned from past legal reforms, and the challenges facing future lawmakers are both timely and invigorating.

Greening International Jurisprudence: Environmental NGOs before International Courts, Tribunals, and Compliance Committees examines how international judicial and quasi-judicial bodies enforce international environmental law, with particular consideration to the role of environmental NGOs. The analytical structure of the study is based on four aspects of discussion and research: the enforcement deficit in environmental law; global environmental governance and sustainable development; the proliferation of international judicial and quasi-judicial bodies; and deliberation and democratic global governance. Author Cathrin Zengerling analyses the institutional structure, as well as the environmental case law from a total of fourteen international courts, arbitral tribunals, and compliance committees with special focus on accessibility, comprehensiveness, and transparency. Underlying this analysis is the fundamental question of whether the respective body appropriately contributes to the realization of democratic governance for sustainable development. After presenting her core findings, the author provides concrete recommendations for future best practices and discusses the need for a new World Environment Court. Researchers, practitioners, and students of international environmental law will find an important, thought-provoking and timely new text in Greening International Jurisprudence: Environmental NGOs before International Courts, Tribunals, and Compliance Committees.