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INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL
LAW - INTRODUCTION
Ilona Jancarova
IEL DEVELOPMENT
1969 report „Man and his environment“:
 the mankind is in a very deep global crisis
 if the process of environmental devastation
will last, it would endanger the life on the
Earth in the future
 the industrial production has led to emissions
of polluting substances into all environmental
media
1969 „Man and his environment“:
 the growth of population was demanding
more and more land for industrial and
agricultural purposes,
 pollution and development has led to the
permanent loss of many species of plants
and animals,
 the environmental pollution started to
threaten the health of people
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ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
 Genetic loss (diminishing and extinction of populations of
different species of plants and animals, loss of their habitats)
 Deforestation and desertification (loss of vegetation)
 Strong growth of human population (diminishing natural
resources)
 Global warming, climate change, increase of the sea level
 Ozone layer depletion (destruction)
 Pollution of all environmental compounds (air, water, soil)
 Loss of cultural heritage
 Impairment of bonds (relations) enabling regeneration of
biosphere.
TODAY BETTER? or WORSE?
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TREATY LAW
 One of the earliest conventions was dealing with regulation of
fishing in Rhine river in1886.
 1902 Convention for the protection of birds usefull to
agriculture.
 1931 Convention for the regulation of whaling
 1933 London Convention relative to preservation of fauna and
flora in their natural state
 1937 International agreement for the regulation of whaling
 1940 the Convention on nature protection and wild-life
preservation on Western Hemisphere
 and others
DEVELOPMENT OF THE TREATY LAW
 1954 London convention protecting sea
against crude oil pollution
 The work on the Law of the Sea was
launched in 1958.
 1960s - the effort to regulate the use of
nuclear energy
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STOCKHOLM CONFERENCE 1972
The Conference on the Human Environment
adopted three non-binding instruments:
 Resolution on institutional and financial
arrangements
 Declaration containing 26 principles
 Action Plan containing 109 recommendations.
The environmental protection was declared as the
universal interest of all nations of the world!
STOCKHOLM CONFERENCE 1972
 Principle 21 affirmed the responsibility of states to ensure that
activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage in
another state or beyond national jurisdiction
 Principle 22 required states to cooperate in developing international
environmental law.
 Principle 6 requires states to stop activities resulting in excesive
environmental pollution, to halt the discharge of toxic and other
substances which cause serious or irreversible damage to the
ecosystems and prevent pollution of the seas.
 Other principles declared the right to adequate conditions of life and
the right of future generations to natural resources and etc.
DEVELOPMENT AFTER STOCKHOLM
CONFERENCE
 UNEP – United Nations Environment Programme
 1982 - The International Whaling Commission put the
Moratorium on commercial whaling
 1982, after 10 years of work the UNCLOS (UN Convention on
the Law of the sea) was passed.
 1970s - Treaties on the nature protection
 1979 - Geneva Convention addressing the long-range transport
of air pollution followed by Vienna Convention on the
protection of Ozone Layer and its Montreal Protocol
 1989 - Basel Convention on the movement of hazardous waste
 1991 – Convention on the Environmental Impact Assessment
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1992 UNCED (RIO DE JANEIRO) + 20
(2012)
UN Conference on Environment and development:
 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (27
principles, reaffirmed 21st p.)
 Non-Legally Binding Authoritative Statement of Principles for a
Global Consensus on the Management, Conservation and
Sustainable Development of All Types of Forest
 Agenda 21 – action plan for a global partnership for sustainable
development
1992 + 20 UNCED
UN Commission for sustainable development
1992
 the balance between environmental protection and
economic development
 compromises between developed and developing
countries
2012
 Sustainable development
 Sustainable consumption and production patterns
DEVELOPMENT AFTER RIO DE
JANEIRO
 Convention on Biological Diversity
 Convention on Climate Change
 1990s - rules regulating use of inland waters
and hazardous substances and dangerous
activites.
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WORLD SUMMIT IN JOHANNESBURG
 Johannesburg Declaration on sustainable
development (2002)
 Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
 new type of agreements - so called partner´s
initiatives (international agreements between
governmental organizations, non-governmental
organizations and enterpreneurs)
DEVELOPMENT AFTER JOHANNESBURG
 Climate change after Kyoto Protocol
 Criminal Liability Convention
 Others.
IEL
Public international law – the body of rules
which are legally binding on states in their
intercourse with each other.
Hard law
Soft law
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SOURCES OF IEL
 treaties
 international custom
 general principles of law
 subsidiary sources (decisions of courts and
tribunals)
IEL
Treaty - an international agreement concluded
between states in written form and
governed by international law
1969 Vienna Convention general rules
TREATY
- can be adopted - bilaterally
- regionally
- globally
- may be oriented to - specific activity
- specific result that is to
be achieved
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TREATY
Treaties are intended to protect:
- national natural objects (flora, fauna, air,
inland water) are subject to exclusive
teritorial soveregnity of the state
- international natural objects (high sea,
Antarctis, open space)
SPECIFIC FEATURES OF
ENVIRONMENTAL TREATIES
1. Lowest commonly acceptable values - exemptions in the text for certain
participants
- club in club
- reservations
2. Slow procedure - scientific definition and description of the problem, its causes
and consequences
- presentation of the problem in the international community
and its recognition as an international problem
- draft
- signature
- ratification or other expression of the consent to be oblidged
with the treaty
3. implementation of obligations, enforcement, dispute settlement (conciliation,
good offices and mediation, arbitration, adjudication)
DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
Dispute settlement - procedure that can be used only as a result of a
breach of international law, and is bilateral and confrontational in
nature, where a judicial or quasi-judicial body external to the
agreement makes a decision , allocating blame for past action without
providing a positive remedy.
 Diplomatic means – conciliation, good offices, mediation.
 Adjudicative means – arbitration, adjudication.
 Rules for dispute settlement in the treaty (settlement clause).
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DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
 Conciliation – is one of the first means for the settlement of disputes. A
formal conciliation procedure involves the establishment of a Conciliation
Commission.
 Good offices and mediation – a country or a international organization may
offer their good offices or offer to mediate the dispute; good offices
proposition assumes a non-negotiating role of the party that offers good
offices. In mediation, the intervening party takes part in the negotiations.
 Arbitration – leads to a binding settlement. The arbitral body is composed of
judges who are normally appointed by the parties but who are not subject
to their instructions.
 Adjudication - the dispute is submitted to the ICJ for resolution; states are
bound by the outcome
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW PRINCIPLES
Principles:
 embody a common ground in international
environmental law;
 reflect the past growth of environmental law
and affect its future evolution;
 provide guidance in interpreting legal norms;
 fill in gaps in positive law.
PRINCIPLES OF IEL
 1972 Conference on the Human Environment
(“Stockholm Conference”)
 1992 United Nations Conference on
Environment and Development (“UNCED”) in
Rio de Janeiro
declarations of principles
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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
1987 Report „Our Common Future“:
 sustainable development is “development that meets
the needs of the present without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own
needs.”
Principle 4 of the Rio Declaration:
 „In order to achieve sustainable development,
environmental protection shall constitute an integral
part of the development process and cannot be
considered in isolation from it.”
RESPONSIBILITY FOR
TRANSBOUNDARY HARM
1972 Stockholm Declaration - Principle 21:
 “States have, in accordance with the Charter of the
United Nations and the principles of international law,
the sovereign right to exploit their own resources
pursuant to their own environmental policies, and the
responsibility to ensure that activities within their
jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the
environment of other States or of areas beyond the
limits of national jurisdiction.”
1992 Rio Declaration - Principle 2
COMMON BUT DIFFERENTIATED
RESPONSIBILITIES
 1992 Rio Declaration - Principle 7:
“States shall cooperate in a spirit of global partnership to
conserve, protect and restore the health and integrity of
the Earth’s ecosystem. In view of the different
contributions to global environmental degradation, States
have common but differentiated responsibilities. The
developed countries acknowledge the responsibility that
they bear in the international pursuit of sustainable
development in view of the pressures their societies place
on the global environment and of the technologies and
financial resources they command.”
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PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AND ACCESS
TO INFORMATION AND REMEDIES
 1992 Rio Declaration - Principle 10
“Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all
concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each
individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning
the environment that is held by public authorities, including
information on hazardous materials and activities in their
communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making
processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness
and participation by making information widely available. Effective
access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress
and remedy, shall be provided.”
PRECAUTION
 1992 Rio Declaration - Principle 15:
“In order to protect the environment, the
precautionary approach shall be widely applied
by States according to their capabilities. Where
there are threats of serious or irreversible
damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not
be used as a reason for postponing costeffective
measures to prevent environmental
degradation“.
PREVENTION
 An obligation of prevention emerges from the
international responsibility not to cause
significant damage to the environment
extraterritorially, but the preventive approach
seeks to avoid harm irrespective of whether
or not there is transboundary impact or
international responsibility.
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POLLUTER PAYS PRINCIPLE
 1992 Rio Declaration - Principle 16:
“National authorities should endeavour to
promote the internalization of environmental
costs and the use of economic instruments,
taking into account the approach that the polluter
should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution,
with due regard to the public interest and without
distorting international trade and investment.”