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Progressive Development of International Environmental Law: Legislate or Litigate?

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Boyle, A. Progressive Development of International Environmental Law: Legislate or Litigate?. German Yearbook of International Law, 62(1), 305-334. https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.62.1.305
Boyle, Alan "Progressive Development of International Environmental Law: Legislate or Litigate?" German Yearbook of International Law 62.1, 2021, 305-334. https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.62.1.305
Boyle, Alan (2021): Progressive Development of International Environmental Law: Legislate or Litigate?, in: German Yearbook of International Law, vol. 62, iss. 1, 305-334, [online] https://doi.org/10.3790/gyil.62.1.305

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Progressive Development of International Environmental Law: Legislate or Litigate?

Boyle, Alan

German Yearbook of International Law, Vol. 62 (2019), Iss. 1 : pp. 305–334

2 Citations (CrossRef)

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Alan Boyle, Emeritus Professor of Public International Law, University of Edinburgh and barrister, Essex Court Chambers, London.

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    Savaresi, Annalisa

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Abstract

Have international courts been too conservative in handling environmental cases? The overall conclusion is obvious: progressive arguments about the environment do not normally appeal to States, and they are therefore not made in court. The very considerable progress in developing international environmental law we have witnessed in the thirty years since I started writing on the subject has not been led by courts or tribunals. Inter-State litigation is an important and useful tool in upholding the rule of law, affirming the development of a coherent body of law, and applying it to the facts, but it is not the way to answer the problems posed by those who seek better, more progressive, or more radical solutions to the world's many environmental problems. For that we must turn to governments and international institutions. Stronger political action on achieving the objectives of multilateral environmental agreements is what the world needs to tackle its growing environmental crisis, not more law-making or more litigation.

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Alan Boyle\nProgressive Development of International Environmental Law: Legislate or Litigate? 305
I. Introduction 305
II. Making New Law? Or Solving Problems? 309
III. The Role of International Courts and Tribunals 305
IV. Conclusions 306