Environmental Protection and Human Rights

Cover......Page 1
Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Brief Contents......Page 9
Contents......Page 11
Acknowledgments......Page 27
Abbreviations......Page 33
Cases......Page 37
Treaties, Declarations, and Resolutions......Page 39
Statutes and Constitutions......Page 40
I. Introduction......Page 41
A. Defining the Environment and Its Characteristics......Page 42
B. State of the Planet......Page 43
II. Approaches to Environmental Protection......Page 56
1. Nuisance, Strict Liability, and Negligence......Page 57
2. The Public Trust Doctrine......Page 70
B. Public Regulation......Page 76
1. Standard Setting......Page 82
2. Restrictions and Prohibitions......Page 84
3. Licensing......Page 87
4. Environmental Impact Assessment Procedures......Page 88
6. Criminal Law......Page 92
C. Market Mechanisms......Page 93
D. Rights-Based Approaches......Page 95
III. International Environmental Law......Page 96
1. Treaties......Page 97
a. Adoption of Treaties......Page 99
c. Treaty Interpretation......Page 100
e. Common Environmental Treaty Techniques......Page 101
3. General Principles of Law......Page 102
4. “Soft Law”......Page 103
B. Relationship of International Law and Domestic Legal Systems......Page 104
1. Beginnings to Stockholm......Page 107
2. From Stockholm to Rio......Page 113
3. From Rio to Johannesburg......Page 118
4. The World Summit on Sustainable Development......Page 120
1. Prevention of Harm......Page 121
2. Precaution......Page 122
3. The Polluter-Pays Principle......Page 126
4. Sustainable Development......Page 127
5. Equitable Principles......Page 130
a. Intergenerational Equity......Page 131
b. Common but Differentiated Responsibilities......Page 135
c. Equitable Utilization of Shared Resources......Page 136
1. Biological Diversity and Species Agreements......Page 137
2. U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol......Page 140
3. U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea......Page 144
4. The Ozone Agreements......Page 146
5. Hazardous Substances and Waste......Page 148
1. State Responsibility......Page 150
2. Compliance Procedures......Page 152
3. Periodic State Reporting......Page 153
4. Civil Society Petitions......Page 154
I. Introduction......Page 158
A. Tension or Complementarity?......Page 159
B. A Primer on Rights......Page 160
1. Human Rights and Universal Aspirations......Page 161
2. Rights of the Environment......Page 162
C. When Rights Conflict......Page 166
A. Mobilizing Human Rights for the Environment......Page 170
B. Critiques and Responses......Page 178
III. The Environmental Justice Dimension......Page 185
1. International Environmental Law......Page 186
2. International Human Rights Law......Page 187
IV. Recognition of the Rights Related to the Environment in Law......Page 188
A. Introduction......Page 191
1. Religious Traditions......Page 194
2. Philosophical and Cultural Roots......Page 197
3. Historical Laws of Local Nature......Page 200
1. Religious Liberty......Page 203
2. Abolition of Slavery and the Slave Trade......Page 204
3. The Emergence of Humanitarian Law......Page 206
4. Injury to Aliens......Page 207
1. Economic and Social Rights: Capitalism, Industrialization, and the Formation of the International Labour Organization......Page 208
2. The League of Nations and Minorities Treaties......Page 210
3. Civil and Political Rights for Women......Page 211
E. Generalizing Human Rights in Global and Regional Systems of Protection......Page 212
1. Standard Setting (1948–1969)......Page 213
2. Development of Compliance Mechanisms (1967–1998)......Page 217
3. Individual Complaints Procedures......Page 220
F. Normative and Institutional Evolution......Page 222
G. The Challenge of Human Rights in the Realm of the Domaine Réservé......Page 225
II. The Idea of Human Rights......Page 228
A. The Nature of Human Rights......Page 229
B. A Case for Human Rights......Page 232
C. Critiques of Human Rights and Responses Thereto......Page 235
A. Natural Law......Page 244
B. Legal Positivism......Page 247
C. Feminist Theory......Page 248
D. New Stream Scholarship......Page 251
E. Human Dignity......Page 254
IV. Individual Duties as a Means of Social Ordering......Page 260
I. Introduction......Page 264
II. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights......Page 265
III. U.N. Treaties: The Core Agreements......Page 271
A. The Obligations Imposed by the Covenants......Page 276
B. Implementation of the Covenants by the Treaty Committees......Page 288
IV. Regional Systems for the Protection of Human Rights......Page 291
V. Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights: Justiciability......Page 295
VI. Human Rights and Environmental Harm......Page 299
A. Reservations......Page 310
B. Denouncing and Reacceding with a Reservation......Page 317
C. Limitations and Derogations from Human Rights......Page 319
I. Introduction......Page 321
A. Security Council......Page 324
B. General Assembly......Page 326
1. The Former Commission and Subcommission......Page 327
2. The Human Rights Council......Page 331
C. Human Rights Council Special Procedures......Page 337
1. Fact-Finding......Page 339
2. Norm Development......Page 348
3. The 1503 Procedure......Page 357
C. International Court of Justice......Page 360
D. The Secretariat......Page 361
A Introduction......Page 362
Advantages......Page 366
Concerns......Page 367
1. General Procedures......Page 368
2. Human Rights Committee......Page 373
IV. Regional Systems......Page 375
A. The European Human Rights System......Page 376
B. The American Human Rights System......Page 379
1. Economic and Social Rights (Including Environmental Rights) in the American Human Rights System: Applicable Norms......Page 384
2. Environmental Rights......Page 387
C. The African Human Rights System......Page 388
1. The Banjul Charter......Page 390
2. The Work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Environment......Page 391
3. The Relationship Between the New Court and the Commission......Page 392
I. Introduction......Page 396
A. Environmental Instruments and Jurisprudence......Page 397
B. Human Rights Texts and Jurisprudence......Page 398
A. Environmental Instruments......Page 421
B. Human Rights Texts......Page 422
A. The Right to a Remedy in Human Rights Instruments......Page 423
B. The World Bank Inspection Panel......Page 433
V. The Aarhus Convention and Complaints Procedure......Page 448
VI. A Combined Process: Prior Informed Consent......Page 471
II. The Rights to Life and Health......Page 476
A. U.N. Jurisprudence and Practice......Page 478
B. Regional Jurisprudence......Page 483
C. National Jurisprudence......Page 498
III. A Right to Water......Page 503
A. Human Rights Law at the Global Level......Page 504
B. The Organization of American States......Page 514
C. The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights......Page 515
D. National Water Rights......Page 516
IV. Right to Respect for Privacy, Family Life, and Home......Page 527
V. Right to Property......Page 552
A. International Guarantees......Page 559
B. National Guarantees of the Right to a Safe and Healthy Environment......Page 560
1. The United States......Page 561
2. South Africa......Page 572
II. Theoretical Approaches......Page 585
1. Human Rights and Non-Discrimination......Page 586
2. Minorities......Page 589
3. Self-Determination......Page 591
4. Historic Sovereignty......Page 594
5. Indigenous Peoples......Page 595
6. Conclusion......Page 596
III. International Instruments......Page 597
IV. The ICCPR and Minority Rights......Page 607
V. The OAS and the Development of Sui Generis Rights......Page 617
VI. African Regional Law......Page 642
A. Australia......Page 650
B. The United States......Page 663
C. Botswana......Page 680
A. The Convention on Biological Diversity......Page 692
B. Climate Change, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing Countries, and Forest Peoples......Page 699
I. Introduction......Page 706
II. Human Rights, the Environment, and Armed Conflict......Page 710
A. The Relationship of Humanitarian Law to Human Rights Law......Page 711
B. The Role of Natural Resources and the Environment in Armed Conflicts......Page 718
C. The Law of Armed Conflict......Page 721
D. Claims for Environmental Damage......Page 731
E. ICJ Opinions and Judgments......Page 776
F. Accountability......Page 777
A. Industrial Accidents......Page 778
B. Natural Disasters and the Responsibility to Protect......Page 795
IV. Refugees......Page 804
I. Intergovernmental Financial Institutions and Their Origins......Page 819
A. The Debate over Bank Policies......Page 823
1. Beginnings......Page 831
Composition of the Panel......Page 844
Powers of the Panel......Page 845
Procedures......Page 846
Reports......Page 847
Review......Page 848
C. Office of Compliance Advisor and Ombudsman......Page 881
11 Human Rights, the Environment, and Corporate Accountability......Page 903
I. Multinational Corporations......Page 905
II. The Rights of Corporations......Page 911
III. International Attempts to Regulate Corporations......Page 928
A. OECD Guidelines......Page 938
B. ILO Tripartite Declaration......Page 944
C. Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations......Page 947
IV. Self-Regulation......Page 952
V. Domestic Regulation......Page 959
A. National Legislative Measures......Page 961
B. Civil Litigation – The U.S. Alien Tort Statute Example......Page 966
1. The Alien Tort Statute......Page 967
2. Litigating Environmental Claims Under the ATS......Page 976
VI. International Complaints and Investigations......Page 1010
Index......Page 1017