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EU FORUM OF JUDGES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT ESTABLISHED
29 March 2004
 On 28 February last, the "EU Forum of Judges for the Environment - Forum de l'UE des juges pour l'environnement" was established. It is an international non-profit association according to Belgian law. The initiators are Guy Canivet, First President of the Supreme Court (France), Amedeo Postiglione, Justice at the Supreme Court (Italy), Lord Justice Robert Carnwath, Royal Courts of Justice (London), and Luc Lavrysen, Judge at the Court of Arbitration (Brussels). The Forum will be officially presented on 26 April next at the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. Thanks to the support of European Commissioner Margot Wallström and the Directorate-General for the Environment of the European Commission, some 50 judges and observers from the 15 current and 10 acceding Member States of the European Union could be invited. In addition, judges from the European Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights and from a few candidate Member States (Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey) were invited to attend the first general meeting.
Full story English / French / Dutch
London Judges Symposium - Rome Judges Symposium
For information on IUCN and the judiciary click here.
THE PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE IN NRM AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION: SITUATION ANALYSIS AND CALL FOR CASE STUDY PROPOSALS
26 March 2004
 Tackling risk and uncertainty is a fundamental aspect of natural resource management (NRM) and conservation, and precaution has become a major (if contentious) approach in many areas, including fisheries, wildlife trade, forest management, and control of alien invasive species. The IUCN Environmental Law Centre is collaborating with IUCN Species Programme, the Regional Office for Southern Africa, TRAFFIC, and partners Fauna & Flora International and Resource Africa to increase understanding of the issues surrounding uncertainty and precaution in NRM and conservation, and develop "best-practice guidance" for implementing precaution in a way that respects both conservation and development priorities. A Situation Analysis examining the application and impacts of precaution in NRM and conservation has been developed and is open for input until end May. The partners are now seeking to commission case studies on the meaning, application and impacts of the precautionary principle in management of living natural resources or biodiversity conservation, and invite your proposals by end March 2004.
Full story
Situation Analysis
Call for case study proposals
For more information on the project click here.
MARINE LAW EXPERTS CONSIDER IMPROVED GOVERNANCE OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA
17 March 2004
 A two-day legal experts workshop, hosted by IUCN's Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation and the Total Foundation, was held in Malaga on 15-16 March. The discussions centered on ways in which to improve the protection of High Seas zones in the Mediterranean (representing 80% of the total ocean area) through closer cooperation between neighbouring states. One of the main themes was the harmonisation of high seas protection measures, such as the creation of marine protected areas and extension of fish protection zones beyond the existing 12 mile limit. The workshop was held in partnership with the IUCN Environmental Law and Marine Programmes.
Media release in French / Spanish
For more information on the workshop click here,
on the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation click here.
LIFETIME ACHIEVENT AWARD FOR JUSTICE (R) SALEEM AKHTAR
11 March 2004
 Pakistan Environmental Law Association (PELA) is holding its First Annual Seminar on Green Justice Through Public Interest Litigation at the Dr. Parvez Hassan Environmental Law Centre on 14 March 2004. The Seminar is co-sponsored by IUCN-Pakistan, WWF Pakistan and LEAD Pakistan. Highlights of the Seminar include conferring the PELA Lifetime Achievement Award on Justice (R) Saleem Akhtar who has so well served environmental protection and sustainable development including through his monumental judgment delivered ten years ago in Shehla Zia vs. WAPDA, which spawned environmental initiatives all over Pakistan. Mr. M.C. Mehta, from India, will keynote about his pioneering role in public interest litigation in India. The Seminar will show how the vision and advocacy of one individual and the innovative interpretation of the Constitution of Pakistan by another - in two different countries - improved the quest for environmental protection in both India and Pakistan.
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS PARTNERS WITH IUCN ACADEMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
9 March 2004
 On 8 March 2004, the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law signed a publishing agreement with the Syndicate of the Press of the University of Cambridge, to publish the research works of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law. Prof. Nicholas A. Robinson, Chair of the IUCN Commission of Environmental Law, signed on behalf of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law, with John Berger representing the Cambridge University Press, at the Pace University School of Law Center for Environmental Legal Studies. "Cambridge University Press has an outstanding set of publications in the field of environmental law," said Prof. Robinson at the signing ceremony. The IUCN Academy's first volumes, which Cambridge expects to publish in October of 2004, will be results of the Academy's pioneering research into the Law of Energy for Sustainable Development. These works were peer reviewed and presented at the 1st Colloquium of the Academy at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, in Shanghai, China, on 4-8 November 2003.
Full story.
For more on the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law click here.
AN INTERNATIONAL GOVERNANCE REGIME FOR PROTECTED AREAS?
3 March 2004
 Is there an international governance regime for protected areas, and if so what is it? How are emerging issues such as: management effectiveness and standards, certification, new financial mechanisms, and new ways of creating and supporting partnerships, being addressed at the international level? These questions and more are addressed in the latest publication in the IUCN Policy and Law Series (Paper 49) produced by IUCN Environmental Law Programme. The publication, 'International Environmental Governance - An International Regime for Protected Areas', described by IUCN Director General Achim Steiner as providing "…an excellent platform for critical thinking and debate", collects a series of papers produced for the V IUCN World Parks Congress. IUCN is most grateful to Parks Canada for funding this research and the publication.
Down load a free copy of 'International Environmental Governance - An International Regime for Protected Areas' here.
For more information on IUCN ELP at the WPC click here.
NEW HEAD OF FAO's DEVELOPMENT LAW SERVICE APPOINTED
1 March 2004
 The IUCN Environmental Law Programme warmly congratulates Dr. Ali Mekouar on his appointment as Head of FAO's Development Law Service. Ali, a Moroccan citizen, is a long-time CEL member. He has been at FAO since 1988, and was formerly a professor at the Faculty of Law of Casablanca (Morocco). He has an extremely broad range of experience and knowledge, both in terms of subject matter (ranging across the full range of food and environment issues) and geographically (having provided technical assistance in dozens of countries around the globe, as well as lecturing, teaching and participating in expert scientific and technical conferences and forums on five continents.) Most recently, Ali was the 2003 recipient of the 2003 E Haub Prize for exceptional achievement in environmental law. He has written many highly respected books, papers, articles and other reports on environmental and natural resources law. Ali is stepping into the shoes of another long-time CEL member, Lawrence C. Christy, who retired last December after 25 years at FAO.
News February 2004 >
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