Event Title
The Idea of Nature in International Dispute Settlement: A Comparative Study of the Danube Dam and Pulp MIlls Cases in the International Court of Justice
Location
Room 107
Start Date
3-7-2012 10:30 AM
End Date
3-7-2012 12:00 PM
Description
Much scholarly time has been spent studying the impact that dispute settlement bodies can have on developing international environmental law or effectively dealing with the environmental aspects of the cases before them. The capacity of the International Court of Justice to influence our ideas around nature is likely to be affected by the complexity of the cases that come before it, such as the diverse range of social, economic and political issues that exist in these cases. Of deeper significance is the nature of the assessment that can accompany choices around why certain rules, principles and interpretations of norms are included and excluded in trials as well the kind of analysis that ensues in the actual work of the Court itself.
This paper examines and compares the two important cases of Danube Dam and Pulp Mills Case in order to ascertain whether the International Court of Justice was ever presented with the opportunity to authentically engage with nature. It is an examination of whether and how international environmental law and principles as well as the community of practice around them created choices for an authentic engagement with nature. The idea of authenticity recognises that various levels of naturalness are not only acceptable but also socially and culturally plausible given the complexities around our understanding of what we can consider to be natural. As a result it avoids getting caught up in the habits of the mind that ascribe an essence to what is nature and humanity’s interests in it.
This paper explores the potential of this kind of thinking for defining new ways of engaging with nature and considers whether dispute settlement as a particular kind of institutional contexts for international law is ever well placed to authentically engage with nature in a way that protects it. Values such as justice, fairness, and objectivity that drive dispute settlement are more likely to place greater value on things other than an authentic engagement with matter/nature. A comparison of the Danube Dam and Pulp Mills Case in this paper seeks to identify the shortcomings of dispute settlement for an authentic engagement with nature. It will also start to assess whether these cases suggest whether this is because international environmental law is underdeveloped in relative comparison to other fields or if it’s the nature of dispute settlement institutions internationally that create this kind of structural bias against an authentic engagement with nature.
The Idea of Nature in International Dispute Settlement: A Comparative Study of the Danube Dam and Pulp MIlls Cases in the International Court of Justice
Room 107
Much scholarly time has been spent studying the impact that dispute settlement bodies can have on developing international environmental law or effectively dealing with the environmental aspects of the cases before them. The capacity of the International Court of Justice to influence our ideas around nature is likely to be affected by the complexity of the cases that come before it, such as the diverse range of social, economic and political issues that exist in these cases. Of deeper significance is the nature of the assessment that can accompany choices around why certain rules, principles and interpretations of norms are included and excluded in trials as well the kind of analysis that ensues in the actual work of the Court itself.
This paper examines and compares the two important cases of Danube Dam and Pulp Mills Case in order to ascertain whether the International Court of Justice was ever presented with the opportunity to authentically engage with nature. It is an examination of whether and how international environmental law and principles as well as the community of practice around them created choices for an authentic engagement with nature. The idea of authenticity recognises that various levels of naturalness are not only acceptable but also socially and culturally plausible given the complexities around our understanding of what we can consider to be natural. As a result it avoids getting caught up in the habits of the mind that ascribe an essence to what is nature and humanity’s interests in it.
This paper explores the potential of this kind of thinking for defining new ways of engaging with nature and considers whether dispute settlement as a particular kind of institutional contexts for international law is ever well placed to authentically engage with nature in a way that protects it. Values such as justice, fairness, and objectivity that drive dispute settlement are more likely to place greater value on things other than an authentic engagement with matter/nature. A comparison of the Danube Dam and Pulp Mills Case in this paper seeks to identify the shortcomings of dispute settlement for an authentic engagement with nature. It will also start to assess whether these cases suggest whether this is because international environmental law is underdeveloped in relative comparison to other fields or if it’s the nature of dispute settlement institutions internationally that create this kind of structural bias against an authentic engagement with nature.