Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws

Abstract: There is a close nexus between sustainable management, use and utilization of the environment and safeguard of environmental rights. Both are equally important for the wellbeing of the human kind, but this warrants striking a balance between them. It is for this reason that law has to p...

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Main Authors:	Ansari, Abdul Haseeb, Abdulkadir, A.B., Yamusa, Shehu Usman
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	AENSI Publications 2012
Subjects:	K Law (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/1/AJBAS-Sp._258-272.pdf

id	iium-27719
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-277192012-12-20T07:58:00Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/ Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws Ansari, Abdul Haseeb Abdulkadir, A.B. Yamusa, Shehu Usman K Law (General) Abstract: There is a close nexus between sustainable management, use and utilization of the environment and safeguard of environmental rights. Both are equally important for the wellbeing of the human kind, but this warrants striking a balance between them. It is for this reason that law has to provide for abatement and control of degradation of the environment and protection of environmental rights. At international level, early human rights instruments made no direct mention of protection of environmental rights, but they, in effect, safeguard them. The later ones have direct mention about protecting these rights. The Aarhus Convention is notable among them. It specifies environmental rights as: rights to access to relevant environmental information, right to participate in environmentalrelated decision-making, and right to access to justice. This paper attempts to critically examine the provisions of these conventions. At national level, some states grant environmental rights under right to life enshrined in their constitutions with specific provision for protection of these rights. Some other states have imposed duties, through their constitutions, as not to pollute the environment. The authors are of the opinion that the effect of all is the same. The courts both internationally and nationally have played a proactive role in ensuring environmental rights are provided in various legal instruments. In some countries, judicial activism has demonstrated a mark distinction by relaxing the requirement of locus standi for facilitating public interest litigations, which has, in effect, brought justice to the doorsteps of the poor and least resourceful people, because availability of such rights will have no value unless procedural impediments are not eased. The authors are of the opinion that the requirement of locus standi should be relaxed in all countries in the interest of general public. Key words: Environmental rights, sustainable development, international laws, national laws AENSI Publications 2012-11-19 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/1/AJBAS-Sp._258-272.pdf Ansari, Abdul Haseeb and Abdulkadir, A.B. and Yamusa, Shehu Usman (2012) Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 6 (11). pp. 258-272. ISSN 1991-8178 http://www.ajbasweb.com/
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
topic	K Law (General)
spellingShingle	K Law (General) Ansari, Abdul Haseeb Abdulkadir, A.B. Yamusa, Shehu Usman Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws
description	Abstract: There is a close nexus between sustainable management, use and utilization of the environment and safeguard of environmental rights. Both are equally important for the wellbeing of the human kind, but this warrants striking a balance between them. It is for this reason that law has to provide for abatement and control of degradation of the environment and protection of environmental rights. At international level, early human rights instruments made no direct mention of protection of environmental rights, but they, in effect, safeguard them. The later ones have direct mention about protecting these rights. The Aarhus Convention is notable among them. It specifies environmental rights as: rights to access to relevant environmental information, right to participate in environmentalrelated decision-making, and right to access to justice. This paper attempts to critically examine the provisions of these conventions. At national level, some states grant environmental rights under right to life enshrined in their constitutions with specific provision for protection of these rights. Some other states have imposed duties, through their constitutions, as not to pollute the environment. The authors are of the opinion that the effect of all is the same. The courts both internationally and nationally have played a proactive role in ensuring environmental rights are provided in various legal instruments. In some countries, judicial activism has demonstrated a mark distinction by relaxing the requirement of locus standi for facilitating public interest litigations, which has, in effect, brought justice to the doorsteps of the poor and least resourceful people, because availability of such rights will have no value unless procedural impediments are not eased. The authors are of the opinion that the requirement of locus standi should be relaxed in all countries in the interest of general public. Key words: Environmental rights, sustainable development, international laws, national laws
format	Article
author	Ansari, Abdul Haseeb Abdulkadir, A.B. Yamusa, Shehu Usman
author_facet	Ansari, Abdul Haseeb Abdulkadir, A.B. Yamusa, Shehu Usman
author_sort	Ansari, Abdul Haseeb
title	Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws
title_short	Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws
title_full	Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws
title_fullStr	Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws
title_full_unstemmed	Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws
title_sort	protection of environmental rights for sustainable development: an appraisal of international and national laws
publisher	AENSI Publications
publishDate	2012
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/27719/1/AJBAS-Sp._258-272.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T20:41:05Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T20:41:05Z
_version_	1777409369606979584

Protection of Environmental Rights for Sustainable Development: An Appraisal of International and National Laws

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