Teaching Resources
Law schools vary in structural approaches, with some core compulsory subjects and various electives. This helps in catering for diverse student needs in terms of preparation for legal practice and law for intellectual or other purposes.
This material has been created as part of the work of the Discipline Based Initiative (DBI) in Law, entitled Learning and Teaching in the Discipline of Law: Achieving and Sustaining Excellence in a Changed and Changing Environment.
Introduction to International Environmental Law by Anne Burnett: an electronic source guide to international environmental law maintained and regularly updated for the American Society of International Law
The focus of this chapter is on the development and implementation of the international and regional instruments (multi-lateral environmental agreements, or MEAs) and policies concerning the environment and natural resources across the sub-regions of the Asia-Pacific, in the context of the continuing debate on ecological sustainability.
This chapter explores the legal, institutional and policy framework that underpins environmental management and sustainable development in Southeast Asia.
This article highlights some of these legal barriers and showcases examples from the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and the Republic of Fiji where the countries have embarked on legal modernisation.
The Environmental Impact Assessment in the Mekong Region manual is the first time that anyone has sought to bring together in one volume an analysis of the EIA systems of each of the six Mekong countries, including the common themes and approaches.
This short note reviews two decades of significant case law developments in the environmental impact assessment process in India. EIA was first introduced as a regulatory requirement in 1994. EIA reflects the constant struggle to balance economic development with ecological integrity in the context of a developing country. The Courts have developed a rich jurisprudence thereby considerably deepening and widening the EIA process.
The Supreme Court specifically has framed the issue of environmental protection as a public good – and therefore in terms of rights and entitlements to clean air, healthy environmental, pollution free water, etc. However entitlements to these public goods cannot be absolute – since in certain circumstances they may have to be balanced with other public goods – like opportunities for employment generation and other related economic development goals.
In environmental law, the imprimatur of the Court’s judicial philosophy is most striking in the case of T N Godavarman v Union of India. It demonstrates how institutions self- reflect on their roles, especially in a federal polity. Do the actions of the Supreme Court push the limits of judicial activism? Can they be seen as judicial adventurism? These questions are explored in this case note on Godavarman.
The principle of sustainable development has evolved to occupy centrality in environmental jurisprudence in India. The Supreme Court has reiterated its importance in the country’s environmental legal regime. However, the jurisprudence has been criticised for framing it as a zero sum game where economic development has been repeatedly used as a justification to trump environmental violations, and therefore, rendering it as only declaratory and lacking in content and sufficient teeth to shape public action.
Can a tribunal deliver justice? By posing this rhetorical question we attempt to historically contextualize the introduction of the tribunal system of adjudication in India.
This Synthesis Report is based on the reports of the three Working Groups of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), including relevant Special Reports. It provides an integrated view of climate change as the final part of the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5).
The Ganges Treaty illustrates that a legally binding agreement is not the same as meaningful cooperation between the parties. The treaty favours the hydro-hegemonic state (India) and solidifies the status quo. It does not create a community of interest in the shared management of the river and has left Bangladesh with numerous concerns and unresolved issues.
The Mahakali Treaty basically aims at an integrated development of water resources in the Mahakali River and has been finalized on the basis of equal partnership. The Mahakali originates in Nepal and forms the border between the two countries for a considerable distance. The scope of the Treaty covers the Sarada Barrage, the Tanakpur Barrage and the proposed Pancheswar project. From the Sarada Barrage, the Treaty gives Nepal 28.3 cumec (1000 cusec) of water in the wet season and 4.25 cumec (150 cusec) in the dry season. This quantity is to be supplied from the Tanakpur Barrage if the Sarada Barrage turns non-functional.
To establish a framework for co-operation in the sustainable development, utilisation, conservation and management of the Mekong River Basin.
The report examines the national legal foundations that are critical in the fight against illicit trade. The one-year research effort covers 17 range countries and resulted in the compilation and analysis of 40 international treaties applicable directly or indirectly to great apes and gibbons and more than 330 national laws and regulations. The results of this review are contained in this report.
This article discusses the available liability and redress mechanism provided for in the Indonesian legal system, particularly under civil law as well as regulations on the environment, food, health, consumer protection, hazardous substances, and plantations.
This paper aims to seek the possibility to ratify and implement the Nagoya–Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress, and to explore whether the legal design could be adopted in several issues.