JudicialInterestInEnvironmentalLaw

DRHANIMKAMARUDDIN

UKM-ELF

RoleofJudiciaryinEnvironmentalLaw

•  Akeymechanismforensuringlegaleffectivenessofenvironmentallawandinstitutionalregimes.

•  Wellpreparedandinformedoftherapidlyexpandingenvironmentallaw

•  Playsacriticalroleintheimplementationandenforcementofenvironmentallaw:

a.  throughthesuccessfulconclusionofenvironmentalcasesprovidingastrongdisincentivetonon-complianceofenvironmentallaws.

b.  enforcementofenvironmentalrightsincludingrighttoinformation.

c.  byprovidingaccesstothepublicandcivilsocietytojudicialprocedures.d.  throughcoherentnetworkingamongjudiciariesandexchangeofjudgmentsand

sharinginformationonenvironmentalcasesandinternationaljurisprudence.

EnvironmentalCourts•  LandandEnvironmentCourtofNewSouthWales:1979

•  PlanningandEnvironmentCourtofQueensland:1990

•  NewZealandEnvironmentCourt:1991

•  IndianNationalEnvironmentTribunal:1995

•  IndianNationalEnvironmentAppellateAuthority:1997

•  TheKenyaNationalEnvironmentalTribunal:1999

•  BangladeshEnvironmentCourt:2000

•  Thailand:GreenBenchintheSupremeCourt:2004

•  Philippines:environmentcourtsattheprovincialandlocallevels:2008

•  Indonesiaenvironmentcourtsatprovinciallevel:2008

•  IndiaNationalGreenTribunal:2010

*ENVIRONMENTALOMBUDSMAN

JudicialNotablesinEnvironmentalLaw

•  PhilippinesChiefJusticeHilarioDavideJr•  ChiefJusticePreston-2006TelstraCase•  JudgeWeeramantry,JudgeoftheInternationalCourtofJustice-HungarianDamsCase

•  JusticeAntonioHermanBenjamin,ChairoftheInternationalUnionforConservationofNatureWorldCommissiononEnvironmentalLawandJusticeoftheNationalHighCourtofBrazil

SomeHighlightsinEnvironmentalDisputesandCourtDecisions

•  IndianCouncilforEnvironmentalLegalActionvUnionofIndiaAIR1996SC–polluterpayprinciple

•  OposavFactoran1993(Philippines)

•  BangkinangLandForestFiresCriminalCase(Indonesia)

•  HumanRightsCaseNo:31-K/92(Q)(EnvironmentPollutioninBalochistan)

• MCMehtavUnionofIndiaandothers,SupremeCourtofIndia,WritPetition(Civil)No.860of1991

•  LeadersIncvGodavariMarbles(Nepal)

•  JupiterShippingPtev.PP(Singapore)

MALAYSIAYAATunArifinbin

Zakaria

Pantun alam sekitar

Hembus Pawana Bayu Terasa

Alam Yang Indah Dipandang Mata

Janganlah Kita Membuang Sisa

Kelak Binasa Alam Semesta

Indah Malam Tanpa Pelita

Terbang Beramai Si Rama-Rama

Janganlah Lupa Peranan Kita

Persekitaran Indah Tanggungjawab Bersama

•  The right to a clean environmentshould ideally be added to theliberties that Malaysians areexpressly guaranteed by theFederalConstitution

•  “….What is most important is I want tocreate realisation, awareness of the publiconenvironmentandthecourtsthroughourjudgments, through our cases will attractpublic attention……illustrates just howmisplaced our value system was then, aswell as how little exposure and awarenessthere was amongst our magistrates andjudges,” he said today, adding that suchattitudeshavehopefullychangedaftertheintroduction of environmental courts,trainingprogrammesandnationalstrategyworkgroups.”

Malaysia’sEnvironmentalJudiciary•  Atotalof42SessionsCourtsand53Magistrates'Courtswereinitiallydesignatedas

environmental courts handling criminal matters, but the judiciary has sinceexpanded this initiative through the setting up of Special Environmental Courtsnationwidetodealwithcivilenvironmentalcases.

•  Mainly cases on non compliance of licences, air pollution, water pollution andindustrialeffluent.

•  MajorityofcasesareinJohorandSelangor.

•  Source,DOE,2017

YEAR NOOFCASES

2012 302

2013 338

2014 311

2015 254

2016 195

CourtCasesinMay2017Source:DOE

LandmarkCasesinMalaysia

! The Bakun Dam - Kajing Tubek v. Ekran Bhd dan Lain -lain [1996] 2 MLJ 388 dan Ketua Pengarah Jabatan Alam Sekitar v. Kajing Tubek [1997] 3 MLJ 23

! Lizard King Anson Wong’s arrest in 2010 that brought about the Wildlife ConservaQon Act 2010

! Tan Teck Seng v Public Prosecutor

! Asian Rare Earth Case - Woon Tan Kan v. Asian Rare Earth [1992] 4 CLJ 2299

! Public Prosecutor v. Ta Hsin Enterprise Sdn Bhd [1998] 6 MLJ 748

! Ventura NavigaQon Inc. v. Singapore Authority Lors (1989) 7 MUJ 349

InternationalJudicialAffiliation

•  AsianJudges’NetworkonEnvironment(AJNE)

•  AssociationofSoutheastAsianNations(ASEAN)ChiefJustices’RoundtableonEnvironment

•  ASEANJudicialWorkingGrouponEnvironment

•  ADBOfficeoftheGeneralCounsel(throughitsLawandPolicyReformProgram)

InternationalCommitment•  TheAngkorStatementofCommitmenttoASEANJudicialCooperationontheEnvironmentwhichevidencesASEANjudiciaries’dedicationtojointlytackletheregion’stransboundaryenvironmentalissues

•  ACommonVisiononEnvironmentforASEANJudiciaries(theJakartaCommonVision)

•  HanoiActionPlantoImplementtheJakartaCommonVision

•  Shareinformationandpromoteenvironmentallaweducationandtraininginlawschoolsandjudicialtraininginstitutes

UsefulLinks•  DepartmentofEnvironment-www.doe.gov.my

•  OfficeoftheChiefRegistrar,FederalCourtofMalaysia-http://www.kehakiman.gov.my

•  InternationalCourtofJustice-http://www.icj-cij.org

•  AustralianGovernment,DepartmentofEnvironmentandEnergy-http://www.environment.gov.au

•  WeblinkstonationalwebsitesonEnvironmentalCrimes-http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/liability/national_transposing.htm

•  SupremeCourtofIndia,TheJudgmentInformationSystem-judis.nic.in/supremecourt/chejudis.asp

•  SupremeCourtofthePhilippinesdecisions-sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/

•  UKCourtsandTribunalsJudiciary-https://www.judiciary.gov.uk/judgments/

ThankYou

Role of Judges in

Environmental Field

Administeringenvironmental

litigationandservingasacheckon

executiveinactionandoverreachinginenvironmentalarena

Promotingcomplianceby

enforcingthelaw

Servingasguarantorofpublicparticipationrightsandprotecting

therightsoftheaccused

Balancingenvironmentanddevelopmentconsiderations

Influencingsocietalattitudestowardstheenvironmentandthe

conceptofsustainabledevelopment

Furtheringtheimplementationofregionalandglobal

environmentalaccordswherepartof

thecorpusofdomesticlaw