Research handbook on fundamental concepts of environmental law / edited by Douglas Fisher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Niko Soininen

Contributor:

Fisher, Douglas, editor.

Series:

Research handbooks in environmental law.

Research Handbooks in Environmental Law

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Environmental law--United States.

Environmental law.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (560 pages).

Place of Publication:

Edward Elgar Publishing 2016

Cheltenham, [England] ; Northampton, Massachusetts : Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

International environmental law has a dual nature being both formal (attached to explicit state will) and instrumental (detached from explicit state will). In this chapter it is argued that normativity of international environmental legal norms is relativised due to the softening of hard law and hardening of soft law. The softening of hard law is caused primarily by the interpretative nature of language and the interplay between formalism and instrumentalism as interpretative paradigms. As a consequence, the normative content of hard law is always a matter of interpretation which by default causes hard law to be more or less indeterminate. The hardening of soft law is visible inter alia in the informal legal status that several soft law instruments such as UN resolutions, accords, executive board decisions and informal initiatives may enjoy through their legitimacy and effectiveness. This results in some soft law instruments gaining relative legal effect even when lacking formal legal status. Based on these observations it is concluded that the normativity or validity of legal norms in international environmental law can only be evaluated after a careful analysis of all the traces of normativity (form, legitimacy and effectiveness) at play.

Contents:

The jurisprudential structure of environmental law / Douglas Fisher

A normative approach to environmental governance : sustainability at the apex of environmental law / Klaus Bosselmann

From protection to restoration : a challenge for environmental governance / Afshin Akhtar-Khavari and Anastasia Telesetsky

Transnational environmental law : the birth of a contemporary analytical perspective / Louis Kotzé and Caiphas Soyapi

Economic approaches to environmental governance : a principled analysis / Michael Faure

Human rights and the environment : a tale of ambivalence and hope / Anna Grear

A constitutional human right to a healthy environment / Nicholas Bryner

Rights of nature : a constructive analysis / Peter Burdon and Claire Williams

The development of international environmental law by the International Court of Justice / Tim Stephens

The structure, form and language of international environmental norms : from absolute to relative normativity / Niko Soininen

The growing significance of the principle of sustainable development as a legal norm / Jonathan Verschuuren

The concept of the common heritage of mankind / Prue Taylor

Environmental policy integration : the importance of balance and trade-offs / Jørgen K. Knudsen and William M. Lafferty

The role played by policy objectives in environmental law / Chris McGrath

The functions of rights of property in environmental law / David Grinlinton

Environmental impact assessment : 'setting the law ablaze' / Elizabeth Fisher

The precautionary principle in environmental governance / Annecoos Wiersema

The judicial development of ecologically sustainable development / Brian J. Preston.

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

1-78471-465-8