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At its 19th session on the 20th of March, the UN’s Human Rights Council adopted a resolution on human rights and the environment facilitating an independent expert on human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment. The resolution was adopted by consensus, with more than 80 States co-sponsoring. The [...]
Filed under: Public International Law | 2 Comments »
After running into overtime, the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) finished Saturday. While press coverage of the event was somewhat muted compared to previous conferences (the aftermath of the EU Summit in Brussels on Friday night took most of the limelight), the reactions to the outcome [...]
Filed under: Environmental Law, EU-Law, International Environmental Law, Public International Law, United Nations | Leave a Comment »
In the build-up to the Rio+20 Summit next year, the UNEP has just published its ‘Keeping Track of our Changing Environment’ report. The report tracks global environmental trends and developments since the 1992 Rio Summit. The report highlights a number of disheartening (but hardly surprising) developments such as the increase in global CO2 emission from [...]
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At the recent tenth Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, the parties adopted the so-called ‘Basel Bal’ which will ban export of waste from Annex VII countries (OECD, EU and Liechtenstein) to developing countries. The ban was originally adopted in 1995 [...]
Filed under: Environmental Law, International Environmental Law | 1 Comment »
The UN News Centre reports that the small island state of Palau plans to seek an advisory opinion from the ICJ in relation to climate change. While the exact details of the plan is not yet clear, this is indeed a significant development. The ICJ has on previous occasions ruled that, while states have the [...]
Filed under: Environmental Law, ICJ, International Courts, International Environmental Law | 2 Comments »
Edward Elgar has just published Environmental Law and Sustainability after Rio (edited by Ben Boer, Jamie Benidickson, Herman Benjamin and Karen Morrow). In the build-up to the Rio+20 due to take place next year, the title seems very timely and it contains some exceedingly interesting chapters by leading contributors to environmental law debates from across [...]
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Increasingly we are witnessing a concerted effort in the attempt to utilise international law in the context of climate change beyond regulatory frameworks. This is perhaps particularly so when it comes to attempts to establish responsibility and liability for the harms and effects associated with climate change. Notwithstanding significant problems with this (most notably causation), [...]
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New Issue of International and Comparative Law Quarterly The April issue of ICLQ is out: Arbitration in three dimensions Jan Paulsson The europeanization of third country judiciaries through the application of the EU Acquis: the cases of Russia and Ukraine Roman Petrov and Paul Kalinichenko The functions of transparency in regulating contract terms: UK and [...]
Filed under: Comparative law, literature, Public International Law, Scholarship | Leave a Comment »
Cambridge University Press has announced the launch of a new academic journal titled ‘Transnational Environmental Law’. Submissions are sought for the first issue which is to be published in 2012. The blurb from CUP reads: Transnational Environmental Law (TEL) is a peer-reviewed journal for the study of environmental law and governance beyond the state. It [...]
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The most recent issue of Stanford Journal of Law, Science and Policy is a special issue on the topic of geo-engineering. Readers interested in the challenges which climate change gives rise to may find the issue worth a look. In particular the short contribution by Robert Berg, who assesses whether the UN can be a [...]
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The list of potential calamities that are like to become more frequent as a result of climate change seems to be growing by the day. Climate change has the potential to affect the enjoyment of human rights and is estimated to affect the most vulnerable populations the most. For some time now, discussions have taken [...]
Filed under: Africa, Environmental Law, International Environmental Law | 2 Comments »
A number of newspapers report this morning that a UNEP report examining oil spills in the Niger region of Nigeria is set to argue that the main proportion of spills causing widespread environmental damage and human suffering in the region is caused by criminal activity. The report (to be published later this year) points out [...]
Filed under: Africa, Environmental Law, International Environmental Law, United Nations | 1 Comment »
This post is authored by Dr Elena Katselli and Dr Zeray Yihdego. Professor Kaiyan Homi Kaikobad: A Tribute to a Great Professor and a Wonderful Human Being On July 1, 2010, Professor Kaiyan Homi Kaikobad, formerly at Durham University and most recently at Brunel University, passed away leaving an irreplaceable void. Not only was he [...]
Filed under: In Memoriam, Public International Law, Scholarship | 9 Comments »
Yesterday’s NY Times reports that eight former executives of Union Carbide India Limited (a subsidiary of the American chemical company Union Carbide) were convicted of negligence as a result of their failure to stop the explosion at the Union Carbide India factory which killed more than 2500 people in 1984. The NY Times reports that [...]
Filed under: Corporations in International Law, Environmental Law, International Environmental Law | 1 Comment »
International Law Observer is pleased to welcome a guest contribution by Dr Elena Katselli. Dr Elena Katselli is a lecturer at Newcastle Law School where she teaches public international law and human rights law. She holds an LLB from University of Athens and LLM and PhD from University of Durham. Elena’s research interests are public [...]
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Yesterday’s EUobserver has a concise and well-written piece on some of the issues which will need addressing as part of the EU’s accession to the European Convention on Human Rights. This is a topic which is likely to receive a lot of academic attention over the coming months.
Filed under: EU-Law, EU/EC Law, Europeam Court of Human Rights | 1 Comment »
International Law Observer is glad to announce a guest contribution by Silke Steiner. Silke Steiner is a lecturer and post-doc assistant at the Department of European, International and Comparative Law at the University of Vienna, Austria. She studied law in Graz and EU external relations at the College of Europe, Bruges. During the Austrian presidency of the EU Council, [...]
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Recent releases of European-based international law journals include International and Comparative Law Quarterly Vol. 59(1) 2010, which includes a piece by Prof. Trevor Hartley on libel tourism, European Public Law Vol. 16(1) 2010, and as noted by Dominik, Vol. 20(4) of European Journal of International, which, in addition to debates on the codification of the [...]
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If you followed former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s appearance before the Iraq Enquiry last week, you might find the piece in the Times by Prof. Malcolm Shaw QC, on how the structure of the UK legal administration arguably rendered itself open to bad decision-making, worth reading.
Filed under: Public International Law | 2 Comments »
In today’s Wall Street Journal Marcus Walker speculates that the admission of Turkey to the EU may be the only possibility left if Europe is to maintain its standing as an important international actor. The article somewhat echoes another article in this week’s Economist noting the need for the EU to become more realistic in [...]
Filed under: EC-Law, EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, EU-Law, EU/EC Law | 2 Comments »
Newcastle Human Rights Research Group Symposium Announcement: Human Rights – A Drop of Liberation or Fig Leaf of Legitimation? Date: 23 January 2010, Newcastle Law School, Newcastle University, UK. Confirmed Speakers Professor David Kennedy, Harvard University – ‘The International Human Rights Movement: Still Part of the Problem?’ Professor Keith Ewing, Kings College London – ‘The [...]
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As we come to the close of 2009, David Pannick’s list of 2009’s unfortunate but amusing court proceedings is worth a read in today’s Times. It includes reference to Silvio Berlusconi’s ongoing fight in the Italian courts as well as wise words from Justice Scalia.
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Our own Gentian Zyberi’s recent paper, ‘Self-Determination through the Lens of the International Court of Justice’, has now been published in the Netherlands International Law Review (2009) No. 56 pp. 429-453. Full abstract: This article focuses on the role and contribution of the International Court of Justice to developing and interpreting the right of peoples [...]
Filed under: ICJ, International Court of Justice, International Courts, literature, Public International Law, Publications, Scholarship | Leave a Comment »
An issue related to Innocent’s post on environmental rights and Michele’s on “climate refugees” is the question of to what extent does climate change affect human rights in general? This is a question which is undergoing a lot of scrutiny not least since the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights was, in 2008, charged with [...]
Filed under: Environmental Law, Europeam Court of Human Rights, Human Rights, International Environmental Law | 1 Comment »
