Environmental Principles and the Evolution of Environmental Law

Environmental principles - from the polluter pays and precautionary principles to the principles of integration and sustainability - proliferate in domestic and international legal and policy discourse, reflecting key goals of environmental protection and sustainable development on which there is apparent political consensus. Environmental principles also have a high profile in environmental law, beyond their popularity as policy and political concepts, as ideas that might unify the subject and provide it with conceptual foundations or boost its delivery of environmental outcomes. However, environmental principles are elusive legal concepts. This book deepens the legal understanding of environmental principles in light of recent legal developments. It analyses the increasing legal effects of environmental principles in different jurisdictions and demonstrates how they are shaping and revealing innovative and evolving bodies of environmental law. This analysis is a step forward in understanding a key feature of modern environmental law and presents a robust methodology for dealing with novel legal concepts in the subject. It also makes a contribution to environmental policy debates and discussions internationally that rely heavily on environmental principles, including their supposed legal effects.>

List of contents

1. Principles Principles Everywhere: Making Sense of
Environmental Principles as Legal Concepts
I. Introduction
II. Environmental Principles and Their High Profile in Environmental Law
III. Methodology and Scope
IV. Conclusion
2. Environmental Principles and Environmental Law
I. Introduction
II. Why So Much Principle?
III. Limitations in Appraising Environmental Principles Legally
IV. Conclusion
3. Legal Contours of Environmental Principles Across Jurisdictions
I. Introduction
II. Environmental Principles in Public International Law
III. Environmental Principles in EU Law
IV. Environmental Principles in NSW Law
V. Conclusion
4. Environmental Principles in European Union Case Law
I. Introduction
II. The Jurisdiction and Institutional Identity of EU Courts: Reasoning with Environmental
Principles in EU Legal Culture
III. Policy Cases
IV. Interpretive Cases
V. Informing Legal Test Cases: Reviewing the Boundaries and Exercise of EU
Environmental Competence
VI. Principle of Sustainable Development
VII. Conclusion
5. Principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development in the New South Wales Land and Environment Court
I. Introduction
II. The NSW Land and Environment Court: III. Mapping the ESD Case Law
IV. Conclusion
6. Conclusions
I. Environmental Principles and Doctrinal Evolution
II. Environmental Principles in Environmental Law Scholarship

About the author

Dr Eloise Scotford is Senior Lecturer in Law at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London. Dr Scotford actively researches in the areas of comparative environmental law, climate change law and governance, waste regulation, air quality control, and the intersection between environmental problems and broader legal frameworks. Dr Scotford is an Associate Member of Landmark Chambers, a visiting lecturer in environmental law at Bocconi University in Milan, a member of the Avosetta Group of EU environmental law experts, and Analysis Editor of the Journal of Environmental Law.

Summary

Environmental principles – from the polluter pays and precautionary principles to the principles of integration and sustainability – proliferate in domestic and international legal and policy discourse, reflecting key goals of environmental protection and sustainable development on which there is apparent political consensus. Environmental principles also have a high profile in environmental law, beyond their popularity as policy and political concepts, as ideas that might unify the subject and provide it with conceptual foundations or boost its delivery of environmental outcomes. However, environmental principles are elusive legal concepts.

This book deepens the legal understanding of environmental principles in light of recent legal developments. It analyses the increasing legal effects of environmental principles in different jurisdictions and demonstrates how they are shaping and revealing innovative and evolving bodies of environmental law. This analysis is a step forward in understanding a key feature of modern environmental law and presents a robust methodology for dealing with novel legal concepts in the subject. It also makes a contribution to environmental policy debates and discussions internationally that rely heavily on environmental principles, including their supposed legal effects.

Additional text

... the book will be of considerable assistance for academics and practitioners of environmental law wanting to understand how certain specific principles have been articulated in the EU and NSW.

Product details

• Authors: Dr Eloise Scotford, Eloise Scotford
• Publisher: Hart Publishing
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.06.2019
• EAN: 9781509930104
• ISBN: 978-1-5099-3010-4
• No. of pages: 320
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Law > General, dictionaries; LAW / Environmental, comparative law, Environment law