Journal of Environmental Law - recent issues

Editor's Foreword

Hilson, C. — 2008-03-01

'Water Pollution: Improving the Legal Controls' in Retrospect

Howarth, W. — 2008-03-01

The Environment and the Ten Commandments

Kramer, L. — 2008-03-01

Predicting the Unpredictable

Lomas, O. — 2008-03-01

Has Environmental Law Become Humdrum?

Miller, C. — 2008-03-01

Perspectives for Environmental Law--Struggling for Sustained Humanity

Winter, G. — 2008-03-01

Creating Legal Teeth for Toothfish: Using the Market to Protect Fish Stocks in Antarctica

Sovacool, B. K., Siman-Sovacool, K. E. — 2008-03-01

Policies to protect Antarctic and Patagonian Toothfish in the Southern Ocean are failing. Contests over sovereignty, the need for international decisions to be approved by consensus, inability to physically patrol the Southern Ocean, and the political vacuum created by the designation of the ‘high seas’ have each contributed to an overfishing crisis in the Southern Ocean and Antarctica. After documenting the contours of this fishing crisis and explaining how international law is unable to prevent it, this article proposes a fundamental shift in strategy away from supply-side controls that require a presence in Antarctica where the overfishing occurs. Lawmakers must utilise more rigorous demand-side measures if Toothfish stocks are to be preserved and allowed to recover.

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

Ross, A. — 2008-03-01

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.

Environmental Reporting as a Communications Tool: A Question of Enforcement?

Bubna-Litic, K. — 2008-03-01

This article examines the effect of mandatory corporate environmental reporting in the context of corporate accountability. It asks the question whether such reporting can be an effective communications tool, both internally and externally and whether this will lead to a greater awareness of environmental issues throughout an organisation, resulting in improved corporate decisions, practices and outcomes. In order to answer this question, the author draws on longitudinal research examining the performance of the top 100 Australian companies. The article then looks at the role of the regulator, arguing that mandatory environmental reporting should be coupled with guidance and enforcement by a regulating authority. The lack of this enforcement in Australia has resulted in the quality of the reporting being less than optimal. Throughout the article, the author has compared the Australian experience with that of Norway, which has similar mandatory corporate environmental reporting laws.

Best Available Techniques (BAT) and Coal-fired Power Stations: Can the Energy Gap be Plugged Without Increasing Emissions?

Wilde, M. — 2008-03-01

At present, there is much anxiety regarding the security of energy supplies; for example, the UK and other European States are set to become increasingly dependant upon imports of natural gas from states with which political relations are often strained. These uncertainties are felt acutely by the electricity generating sector, which is facing major challenges regarding the choice of fuel mix in the years ahead. Nuclear energy may provide an alternative; however, in the UK, progress in replacing the first generation reactors is exceedingly slow. A number of operators are looking to coal as a means of plugging the energy gap. However, in the light of ever more stringent legal controls on emissions, this step cannot be taken without the adoption of sophisticated pollution abatement technology. This article examines the role which legal concepts such as Best Available Techniques (BAT) must play in bringing about these changes.

Climate Change--Statutory Duty or Pious Hope?

McMaster, P. — 2008-03-01

Faites Vos Jeux--Regulatory Autonomy and the World Trade Organisation after Brazil Tyres

van Calster, G. — 2008-03-01

European Court of Justice--Significant Environmental Cases 2007

Edwards, V. — 2008-03-01

Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Approaches from the Nordic Countries, EU and USA. Edited by NICOLAS DE SADELEER

Fisher, L. — 2008-03-01

Environmental Protection, Law and Policy: Text and Materials. By JANE HOLDER AND MARIA LEE

Willmore, C. — 2008-03-01

Biodiversity and the Law: Intellectual Property, Biotechnology and Traditional Knowledge. Edited by CHARLES MCMANIS

Salmon, N. — 2008-03-01

Deleuze and Environmental Damage: Violence of the Text. By MARK HALSEY

Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, A. — 2008-03-01

Article Abstracts * Volume 19 Number 3 2007

2007-11-02

Editor's Foreword

Macrory, R. — 2007-11-02

Public Interest Environmental Litigation in India: Exploring Issues of Access, Participation, Equity, Effectiveness and Sustainability

Rajamani, L. — 2007-11-02

Addressing Nanotechnology Waste and Product Disposal: Can the Superfund Safety Net Catch Tiny Particles?

Breggin, L. K., Pendergrass, J. — 2007-11-02

Regulatory Design for Scientific Uncertainty: Acknowledging the Diversity of Approaches in Environmental Regulation and Public Administration

Jones, J. — 2007-11-02

Environmental regulatory design addresses scientific uncertainty through a range of regulatory design tools. The seven approaches identified and considered in this article are termed (1) the acknowledgement of scientific uncertainty (2) the burden shifting approach (3) the ‘sound science’ approach (4) the consequences approach (5) the consensus approach (6) the estimation approach and (7) the adaptive management approach. Analysis of some common environmental legislative frameworks suggests that, rather than occurring in isolation, these seven approaches are frequently incorporated into legislative regimes in a multitude of combinations. The article also highlights the implications of expressly embedding a precautionary approach within pre-existing environmental regulatory frameworks, such as has occurred within Australian environmental regimes. Finally, the article explores the advantages and disadvantages of each approach and the various circumstances that favour the adoption of a particular regulatory approach to scientific uncertainty. In doing so, it suggests an agenda for future empirical research on approaches to regulatory design for scientific uncertainty.

Trash or Treasure: Policy Tensions in EC Waste Regulation

Scotford, E. — 2007-11-02

Trail Smelter II: Transnational Application of CERCLA

Betlem, G. — 2007-11-02

The Fundamental Right of Access to Environmental Information in the EC: A Critical Analysis of WWF-EPO v. Council

de Abreu Ferreira, S. — 2007-11-02

Significant International Environmental Law Cases

Harrison, J. — 2007-11-02

Biotechnology and International Law. Edited by Francesco Francioni And Tullio Scovazzi

Mackenzie, R. — 2007-11-02

Energy Law and the Environment. By Rosemary Lyster And Adrian Bradbrook

Morrow, K. — 2007-11-02

Sustainable Development. By Susan Baker

Franklin, A. — 2007-11-02

The Environment and Sustainable Development in the New Central Europe. Edited by Zbigniew Bochniarz and Gary B. Cohen

Stec, S. — 2007-11-02

Towards Principled Oceans Governance: Australian and Canadian Approaches and Challenges. By Donald R. Rothwell And David L. Vanderzwaag

Ong, D. M. — 2007-11-02

Vessel Source Marine Pollution: The Law and Politics of International Regulation. By Alan Khee-Jin Tan

Adshead, J. — 2007-11-02

Fresh Water and International Economic Law. Edited By Edith Brown Weiss, Laurence Boisson De Chazournes and Nathalie Bernasconi-Osterwalder

Barreira, A. — 2007-11-02

Article Abstracts * Volume 19 Number 2 2007

2007-06-26

Editor's Foreword

Macrory, R. — 2007-06-26

Gateways to the Precautionary Principle in WTO Law

Cheyne, I. — 2007-06-26

Integrated Pollution Control in Victorian Britain: Rethinking Progress within the History of Environmental Law

Pontin, B. — 2007-06-26

Reflections upon American Environmental Enforcement Experience as it may Relate to Post-Hampton Developments in England and Wales

Mushal, R. W. — 2007-06-26

Public Policy and the Digital Geospatial Representation of Designated Land Use in the UK: PART II

Saxby, S. — 2007-06-26

EIA and Public Participation: Determining the Limits of Member State Discretion: EC Environmental Impact Assessment Directive--Implementation--Public participation in certain assessment procedures upon payment of fees--Scope of national discretion

2007-06-26

Legal Standing of Environmental Associations: The New 'Democratic Approach' of the Italian Supreme Administrative Court: Consiglio di Stato, sec. IV, judgment no. 5760 of 2 October 2006, (Comitato "Comuna Bellis e Santuario" et al. v. Comune di Ostiglia et al) The full text of the judgment is available at http://www.giustizia-amministrativa.it

Gobbato, S. — 2007-06-26

Significant United Kingdom Environmental Cases January-December 2006

Hannett, S. — 2007-06-26

Designs on Nature: Science and Democracy in Europe and the United States. By SHEILA JASANOFF

Lee, M. — 2007-06-26

Environmental Law, 6th edition. Edited by STUART BELL AND DONALD MCGILLIVRAY

Humphreys, M. — 2007-06-26

Environmental Taxation Law: Policy, Contexts and Practice. Edited by JOHN SNAPE and JEREMY DE SOUZA

Siegele, L. — 2007-06-26

Community Resources: Intellectual Property, International Trade and Protection of Traditional Knowledge. By JOHANNA GIBSON

Ssenyonjo, M. — 2007-06-26

A Practical Approach to Environmental Law. By PAUL STOOKES * Pollution Control: The Powers and Duties of Local Authorities. By NEIL HAWKE, BRIAN JONES, NEIL PARPWORTH and KATHERINE THOMPSON

Tromans, S., Greaney, N. — 2007-06-26

Crop Spraying and the Health of Residents and Bystanders, Special Report. By ROYAL COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (RCEP) * UK Government Response to RCEP Special Report. By DEPARTMENT FOR FOOD, ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL AFFAIRS (Defra)

Fisk, D. — 2007-06-26