Skip Navigation


Journal of Environmental Law Advance Access originally published online on October 17, 2007
Journal of Environmental Law 2008 20(1):35-68; doi:10.1093/jel/eqm019
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/1/35    most recent
eqm019v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ross, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Why Legislate for Sustainable Development? An Examination of Sustainable Development Provisions in UK and Scottish Statutes

Andrea Ross*

*Senior Lecturer, University of Dundee (a.p.ross{at}dundee.ac.uk). Many thanks, with the usual disclaimer as to errors and omissions, to the anonymous referees, Robin Churchill, Chris Hilson, Hazel Hughes, Janet McLean and Alan Page for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.


  Abstract

This article examines the use of the term ‘sustainable development’ in Acts of the Scottish and UK Parliaments. It begins by examining the UK's traditional reluctance to legislate on sustainable development, the more recent reversal of that approach and some definitional issues surrounding the term. It then moves on to consider the sustainable development provisions in detail examining their form, strength and limits, and how they can be monitored, reviewed and enforced both inside and outside court. The article concludes that over and above any symbolic value, in many instances the provisions also have legal significance. The formulations vary and while some are simply material considerations to be used in decision-making, those which set out mandatory requirements such as reports do create binding legal rules. Furthermore, there are a few examples where the duty or objective is set out as a clear legal rule that could be interpreted as providing a framework for decision-making.

Key Words: sustainable development • statutes • duties • Scotland


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.