Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws
Abstract: There is a close nexus between sustainable management, use and utilization of the environment and safeguard of environmental rights. Both are equally important for the wellbeing of the human kind, but this warrants striking a balance between them. It is for this reason that law has to p...
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AENSI Publications
2012
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/1/AJBAS-Sp._258-272.pdf |
| Summary: | Abstract: There is a close nexus between sustainable management, use and utilization of the
environment and safeguard of environmental rights. Both are equally important for the wellbeing of
the human kind, but this warrants striking a balance between them. It is for this reason that law has to
provide for abatement and control of degradation of the environment and protection of environmental
rights. At international level, early human rights instruments made no direct mention of protection of
environmental rights, but they, in effect, safeguard them. The later ones have direct mention about
protecting these rights. The Aarhus Convention is notable among them. It specifies environmental
rights as: rights to access to relevant environmental information, right to participate in environmentalrelated
decision-making, and right to access to justice. This paper attempts to critically examine the
provisions of these conventions. At national level, some states grant environmental rights under right
to life enshrined in their constitutions with specific provision for protection of these rights. Some other
states have imposed duties, through their constitutions, as not to pollute the environment. The authors
are of the opinion that the effect of all is the same. The courts both internationally and nationally have
played a proactive role in ensuring environmental rights are provided in various legal instruments. In
some countries, judicial activism has demonstrated a mark distinction by relaxing the requirement of
locus standi for facilitating public interest litigations, which has, in effect, brought justice to the
doorsteps of the poor and least resourceful people, because availability of such rights will have no
value unless procedural impediments are not eased. The authors are of the opinion that the requirement
of locus standi should be relaxed in all countries in the interest of general public.
Key words: Environmental rights, sustainable development, international laws, national laws |
|---|