Part IV Normative Development, Ch.27 Judicial Development

Subject(s):

International environmental law — Judicial reasoning — Judicial decisions

This chapter examines the role of international judicial bodies' primary role with respect to the environment, which is to resolve disputes by deciding contentious cases and to guide the application of international law by issuing advisory opinions. International court and tribunals (ICTs) can influence the development of international environmental law by providing an authoritative articulation of a legal rule or principle. The chapter then looks at the development of legal norms for governing Earth's environment through ICT judgments. It describes the range of courts available, the remedies that they can offer, the capacity of ICTs to handle environmental problems, and problems that challenge their effectiveness in the overarching objective of providing a high degree of environmental quality. It does this whilst recognizing that courts and law are but one part of the system of governance, technology, politics, and economics that shapes human interactions with the environment.