The Legal Research Society

Lawyers and social scientists alike have for a number of years agreed that environmental conditions and scarcity of natural resources have the potential to act as a catalyst for armed conflicts. Such assertions have strengthened the normative link between environmental law and the law governing armed conflicts on a general level. This linking is already recognised, in general, in the area of international law of armed conflicts, which, inter alia, lays down that the methods and means of warfare are not limited; and in particular in the international law of armed conflicts which provides for the protection of the environment during hostilities such as Articles 35(3) and 55 of the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the 1949 Geneva convention. In addition to this “environmental-armed-conflict-law”, considering the state of the environment as a cause of armed conflict has gathered consensus among policy-makers, diplomats and academics. This was most recently recognised when Al Gore, together wi...

In light of Gerd’s excellent post on the Trump saga, today’s news from the Sunday Herald on the number of alleged breaches of European environmental law by the Scottish Government, does perhaps, not appear surprising. The article in the Sunday Herald is unfortunately the only information I have been able to obtain on the matter but here is, nevertheless, a short account of the story. It is alleged that over the last six years the Scottish Government (former Scottish Executive) has been facing infraction proceedings for more than 60 specific breaches of European Community law relating to the environment. This number is in sharp contrast to the 32 breaches that the Scottish Government had admitted to be facing, in 2005, when asked to reveal the figures under then recently passed Freedom of Information legislation. The latest number of breaches only saw light after the Freedom of Information Commissioner (Kevin Dunion, who previously happened to head Friends of the Earth Scotland), ordere...

In Cervantes’ classic novel from the early 1600’s, Don Quixote de la Mancha bravely, but rather foolishly, sets out to fight windmills, which he mistakes for being the giants that any decent knight must fight. Although the encounter leaves Don Quixote battered, it now looks as if he will have to learn some new skills to keep up the fight. According to today’s New York Times, flying wind turbines might be a thing of the future. Although this might seem a bit far fetched, it has certain advantages. For instance, the wind blows constantly and steadily in the altitude of 10.000 feet and some estimates suggest that the flying turbines at that altitude will be able to generate energy at a very competitive price per kilowatt, compared to conventional methods of on-the-ground production. The NY Times reports that the turbines have the potential to prove particularly useful in rural areas and, so far, interest has been registered from a number of developing countries. However, some problems rem...

In a week where the highlights from the environment side of the legal research area cou nt goods and bads including the ruling by a federal court in Vermont, US, approving state regulation aimed at curbing carbon emission in lack of federal initiatives; new outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease in Surrey, UK; and the publishing of the IUCN’s (the World Conservation Union) annual report sounding the alarm bell over the state of worlds wildlife, inter alia , pointing out that 188 further species are in danger of extinction compared to last year, yesterday’s list of the World’s most polluted places only seems to add to the list of bads. The list, compiled by the New York based environmental group The Blacksmith Institute, list the ten most polluted places in the world and includes sites in Russia , Azerbaijan , China , India , Ukraine , Peru and Zambia . Compared to the list from last year, this year’s new entries include Tianying , China and Sukinda in India . The site of Tianying in C...

Following last week’s debate on McCain’s proposal for a “League of Democracies”, the UN, and as earlier argued its member states, are doing a good job inviting criticism. This week it was confirmed that Zimbabwe has been elected to chair the UN’s Commission for Sustainable Development. The decision followed a vote granting the go-ahead to Zimbabwe’s chairmanship with the slightest of margins - 26 to 21 (with three abstentions). The chair of the Commission usually rotates between the world’s regions and the decision was supported mainly by the African nations. The decision was swiftly greeted with criticism from both European and US diplomats. Although the decisions to award the chair to Zimbabwe followed all procedures and was perfectly democratic, it raises a number of issues. First and foremost, the blatant human rights violations taking place in Zimbabwe ought to deter any support for Zimbabwe from other member states. This is regardless of the chair being for the Commission for su...