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Despite decades of effort, the international community has stumbled in attempts to craft tort remedies for victims of transboundary environmental damage. More than a dozen civil liability treaties have been negotiated that create causes of action and prescribe liability rules, but few have entered into force, and most remain unadapted orphans in international environmental law. In this Article, I explain the problematic record of tort liability regimes by developing a theoretical model of liability negotiations grounded in regime theory from political science. Based on this model, I conclude that negotiated liability regimes have foundered because of three main roadblocks: ( 1) interest conflicts between developed and developing states; (2) high transaction costs and low expected payoffs; and (3) incorporation of treaty provisions that are too onerous for states to accept. I conclude that strengthening tort remedies will require changing the substantive content of liability treaties and the process of negotiating them. I also show how liability principles can be strengthened outside the treaty-making process through diffusion of norms against trans boundary environmental damage.

Contemporary Australian environmental law is commonly viewed by the nations' leaders as representing "best practice" environmental regulation. Many Australians consider Australia an environmental policy world leader. Others have been much less sanguine in their assessment. In a recent provocative text, for instance, two prominent academics assert that "not only is the hold of environmental considerations in Australian politics more precarious [than they have ever been], but determined attempts have been and continue to be made by elected representatives to ignore and obliterate them". The Australian Conservation Foundation, Australia's largest environmental nongovernmental organization, has also been highly critical of what it considers recent retrograde environmental law "reforms". The truth, as usual, probably lies between these two extremes. Australia, like a number of developed, western democracies, finds itself at an environmental cross-roads. Over the past three years the Federal Commonwealth Government has undertaken the first major revision of national environmental laws since their inception in the early 1970s. The revision is far from complete, but the central premise behind the current conservative Coalition Government (comprised of the Liberal Party and National Party) appears to be a determined move to a devolution of regulatory responsibility, with an attendant increase in of the principle of subsidiary and self-regulation. A move that reflects trends in international development of a "second generation" of environmental law and regulation.

Within the EGP Project "The Capacity Building of Environmental Justice and Guarding Environmental Rights in Western China", the scholars of the University of Bologna, partner of the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and its Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV), have worked on an Environmental Law Survey so as to provide to the interested public – in particular, Chinese judges, lawyers, academics, and civil society as a whole – with the most interesting and recent judicial decisions or pieces of Environmental Law legislations developed in the most relevant legal fields. The choice has fallen on the scientific juridical disciplines of Administrative Law, Civil Procedural Law, Comparative Law, Criminal Procedural Law, EU Law and International Law, since these disciplines express highly relevant perspectives for the promotion of an effective environmental protection within the European Union, European Countries, and the International Community. We hope that the carefully selected rulings and pieces of legislation may provide the Chinese interpreter, practitioner or judge involved in Environmental Law issues in China or concerning China, with legal reasoning and innovative juridical solutions which may inspire their extremely demanding daily activities, constantly involving a balance between the right to a clean and healthy environment of the citizens and the rights of economic operators and undertakings.

Within the EGP Project "The Capacity Building of Environmental Justice and Guarding Environmental Rights in Western China", the scholars of the University of Bologna, partner of the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and its Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims (CLAPV), have worked on an Environmental Law Survey so as to provide to the interested public –in particular, Chinese judges, lawyers, academics, and civil society as a whole – with the most interesting and recent judicial decisions or pieces of Environmental Law legislations developed in the most relevant legal fields. The choice has fallen on the scientific juridical disciplines of Administrative Law, Comparative Law, Criminal Law, EU Law and International Law (the latter with a particular focus on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg), since these express highly relevant perspectives for the promotion of an effective environmental protection within the European Union, European Countries, and the International Community. We hope that the carefully selected rulings and pieces of legislation may provide the Chinese interpreter, practitioner or judge involved in Environmental Law issues in China or concerning China with legal reasoning and innovative juridical solutions which may inspire their extremely demanding daily activities, constantly involving a balance between the right to a clean and healthy environment of the citizens and the rights of economic operators and undertakings.

Indigenous Peoples have classically been defined in terms of their situation of vulnerability and discrimination traceable back to colonialism. The first international legal instruments addressing indigenous peoples are based on such an understanding, and emphasize special protection for indigenous peoples in order to preserve their cultural identity. This article describes this approach a human rights-based one, even though, at the national level, the label "indigenous" is sometimes also interpreted as a synonym of political power. Meanwhile, international environmental law has introduced what this author calls a "functional approach" recognizing the participatory role of indigenous communities in supporting environmental conservation and use of biodiversity. From a functional perspective, it is a logical consequence to include other local communities, albeit not "indigenous" in the classical sense. Thirdly, in the sector of development cooperation, international financial institutions (IFIs) have designed policies with the aim of assuring indigenous peoples the opportunity to be consulted when IFI-funded projects could entail a negative impact on indigenous communities. At first glance, it could be said that those policies were inspired by a human rights-based approach. However, from a holistic perspective, the role of indigenous peoples becomes a more functional one. This paper contributes a critical analysis of the role of indigenous peoples from these two approaches: the human rights-based approach and the functional approach. The author argues that a definition of indigenous peoples based on a human-rights approach should be understood as encompassing also other groups living in similarly vulnerable situations. Even though a functional approach to indigenous peoples responds better to the principle of equality, this approach should be more respectful to the cultural and social values of indigenous or local communities, from whom a particular behavior is expected in order to achieve certain goals. ; peerReviewed

At present, in international practice, the basis for the legal regulation of liability for environmental offenses has been formed. We can say that the legal regulation of relations on compensation for environmental damage has two levels. The first level is international. It includes acts adopted or approved by a group of states that adhere to uniform standards for compensation for environmental harm. The second level is national, which includes the regulations of individual states

Establishes the principles that govern the environmental policy and the basic norms for the regulation of the administration of the environment and the actions of the citizens and society in general, with the goal to protect the environment and achieve the sustainable development of the Country.

The paper concerns the international environmental law, and its main topics delineate: why an international dimension of environmental protection; the lack of direct referring on environmental protection in international law and the use of the state's responsibility principle; a short view on the development of international environmental law; the latest developments and perspectives of environmental protection legislation; a short overview on the Albanian environmental normative regulation.

The purpose of this paper is the analysis of the impact that the environmental law principles, proclaimed in the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union and integrated in the secondary EU law, have on the conflict of law provisions in the Rome II Regulation. This entails examination of the provisions on parties' choice of applicable law, special provision for environmental damages, and certain provisions which specifically address the public interest concerns, such as the one on taking account of rules of safety and conduct and the one on applying the forum overriding mandatory rules. The scrutiny focuses on the issue of the extent to which the conflict of law provisions presently in force serve as a mechanism additional to the substantive and procedural rules in implementing the EU environmental policy.

Given the political dynamic in play at the national level, with the country evenly split between Republicans and Democrats, and incumbent Tea Party and other politicians highly critical of the EPA, there is no reason to think this trend in decreasing environmental budgets will change any time soon. In some states the trend is even more pronounced. Fiscal austerity has become the new norm. The interesting questions are whether this matters for environmental law, how it matters, and what it means going forward.

Establishes the norms to develop the constitutional rights for a safe, healthy and ecologically balanced environment. Art. 38 states that in the process of environment education, the knowledge of indigenous communities will be considered, as well as their techniques associated with the use of natural resources and ecological harmonic ways of life.

This article outlines the development of environmental and resource law in Australia and explores its constitutional and political setting. The need for a national approach to the environment within the context of Australia as a federally organized country is recognized, particularly with regard to Australia's international obligations and the fact that environmental issues span state, territory, and/or national boundaries. It is argued that, to date, federal action with respect to the environment does not satisfactorily demonstrate the emergence of a national environmental strategy. However, the recent Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment, signed by the state and federal governments in 1992, and the development of ecologically sustainable strategies for Australia are acknowledged for their potential to overcome the federal-state conflicts, which have inhibited an adequate national approach.

This annual publication from the Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy provides a summary of recent developments in Washington State environmental law. This Year in Review summarizes laws passed during the 2013-2014 legislative session and environmental case law decided the Washington State Supreme Court from late 2013 to late 2014. The court and legislature addressed several important environmental issues this year, including timber and water rights, renewable energy, air quality, and agency reporting requirements. The author reviewed these developments in Washington environmental law and summarized those determined to be most significant. All agencies referred to are Washington agencies. The author refers to agencies by shortened names, for example, the Department of Ecology (Ecology) and the Department of Fish and Wildlife (Wildlife).

Gegenstand der vorliegenden Dissertation ist die Frage nach der Anerkennung ökologischer Menschenrechte auf verschiedenen Rechtsebenen. Dabei wird die Entwicklung der ökologischen Menschenrechte herausgearbeitet und ihre Wirkungen auf internationaler, regionaler und staatlicher Ebene untersucht. Dazu wird die gegenwärtige Rechtslage der ökologischen Menschenrechte im Europa- und Völkerrecht dargestellt und bewertet. Teil der Aufgabenstellung der Arbeit ist auch die Idee einer ökologischen Gerechtigkeit, anhand derer unterschiedliche Problemfelder wie Armut und ökologische Rechtsstaatlichkeit beleuchtet werden. Das Ziel der Arbeit besteht damit in einer rechtsdogmatischen und rechtspolitischen Begründung ökologischer Menschenrechte im internationalen sowie im regionalen Recht. Mithilfe der rechtsvergleichenden Methodik soll eine wirksame Problemlösungsfindung aufgezeigt werden, welche dazu beitragen kann, eine menschenwürdige Umwelt in der ganzen Welt zu sichern. ; The main aim of this dissertation is to understand how environmental human rights are recognized at different legal levels. It maps out the trajectory of development of environmental human rights and examines its impact at the international, regional and state level. In view of that objective, the current legal situation of environmental human rights in European and International Law is presented and evaluated. The dissertation also aims at examining the idea of environmental justice and its intersection with other social and legal aspects like poverty and the environmental rule of law. The findings, therefore, serve to present a legal dogma and provide a legal policy framework for environmental human rights in international and regional law. The legal comparative methodology used in the analysis intends to present an effective problem-solving model, that may create a decent environment around the world.

Building upon the existing literature, this Chapter shows that international tax law might have either positive or negative effects on the protection of the environment. First, this Chapter discusses the positive effects that international tax law could have on environmental protection if global environmental taxes were to be adopted. Second, by means of three concrete examples, this chapter analyzes three types of negative effects that international tax provisions might have on environmental protection. The international tax provisions that apply to the aviation sector are used as a first example to show that international tax law can cause a country's tax system to be or remain disconnected from or inconsistent with its environmental policy agenda, which is problematic. Then, the case of environmental border tax adjustments is used to show how international tax provisions are sometimes used as an argument against the adoption of innovative domestic or regional tax measures that would allegedly help foster environmental protection. Finally, a third potential negative effect of international tax law on environmental protection is discussed through the example of emissions trading schemes, to highlight how double tax treaties might affect their effectiveness. This Chapter concludes that the interactions between international tax law and environmental protection need to be acknowledged and that coordination is key to ensure that international tax law does not undermine the legislator's efforts to protect the environment.