This paper analyzes the viability of having green courts with dedicated environmental jurisdiction, separate from the general judicial system. The National Green Tribunal (NGT), India has been a success story through which environmental jurisprudence, awareness and consciousness have benefited over the last decade. The Author has made an effort to take the NGT of India as a reference point for discussing the advantages and disadvantages of green courts. After a detailed analysis of the pros and cons of having a dedicated environmental judiciary, the paper then proceeds to conclude through the analysis that green courts, like the NGT, prove to be a feasible system of adjudication generally advantageous for environmental adjudication across the board.

You can access the full paper pulished in the Cornell Policy Review here. 

About the Author

WCEL Member Eeshan Chaturvedi received a Masters in Environment and Policy Law from Stanford Law School in 2015. After attaining a degree in Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Laws (equivalent of J.D.), he was selected as a Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of India. During his one year as a Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of India, he researched extensively on issues encompassing both criminal and civil laws, with special emphasis on International Arbitration Laws and Environmental Laws. After this, he became the first Law Clerk appointed by the National Green Tribunal of India, the highest Environmental adjudicatory body in India. Eeshan was selected among the 20 rising environmental leaders by the Stanford Woods Institute for Environment for the year 2015. Subsequently he worked with the UNECE and UNHQ in Geneva and New York respectively. Eeshan currently practices in the Supreme Court of India, is the Founder-Director of Environmental and Public Policy Consultancy Firm called ‘EnviPol’ and is a Faculty member at the O. P. Jindal Global University, India.