Green benches: What can the People's Republic of China learn from environment courts of other countries?

Lin, Tun and Wang, Canfa and Chen, Yi and Camacho, Trisa and Lin, Fen (2009): Green benches: What can the People's Republic of China learn from environment courts of other countries?

Abstract

The rapid economic growth of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) over the last 30 years has generated many environmental problems and a concomitant rise in the number of environmental disputes. Until 1989, legal cases arising from these disputes were usually heard in the people’s courts of general jurisdiction. In that year, however, the development of the environment court system accelerated, leading to the creation of 11 such courts for pilot cases, a sign of the high priority the PRC has given to environmental protection over the past two decades. This paper examines the effectiveness of environment courts in the PRC and elsewhere, so that the lessons learned can be applied in the PRC and in other developing countries. It also recommends ways to promote environmental justice in the PRC, given that the 11 environment courts are no longer enough to handle the rapidly increasing caseload throughout the country.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: environment courts; China; environmental laws; environmental disputes; environmental cases; green judges
• Subjects: K - Law and Economics > K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law > K32 - Environmental, Health, and Safety Law; K - Law and Economics > K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law

References

Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2009. Environmental Dispute Coordination Commission Report on Seminar and Meetings on Environmental Dispute Resolution Mechanism. Manila.

Bangkok Post. 2005. Setting up an Environment Court. 21 August. www.thaibirding.com/news/ envcourt.htm.

Beyer, S. 2006. Environmental Law and Policy in the People’s Republic of China. Chinese Journal of International Law. 5(1), pp. 185–211.

Birdsong, B.C. 2000. Adjudicating Sustainability: New Zealand’s Environment Court. ECOLOGY Law Quarterly 29 (1), pp. 4–5.

Consultative Council of European Judges. 2004. Opinion No. 4. Quoted in Republic of Kenya. Judicial Education and Training Workshop.

Edmond, G. 2009. Merton and the Hot Tub: Scientific Conventions and Expert Evidence in Australian Civil Procedure. Law and Contemporary Problems. 72 (1), pp. 159–189. www.law.duke.edu/journals/lcp/

Gong, W.J. 2008. The Gender Difference Analysis of Environmental Friendship Behavior of Urban Inhabitants. Journal of China University of Geosciences (Philosophy and Social Science), p.11.

Government of New South Wales, Australia. 2007. Land and Environment Court Rules, Part 4, 4.2.

Government of the People’s Republic of China. 1996–2001. National Law Annual.

Johnson, H. 2009. The Environment Court of New Zealand, Report of the Registrar 2007–2008. Wellington, New Zealand: New Zealand Ministry of Justice, pp. 9–10. www.courts.govt.nz/environment/reports/EC_Registrar_Report_2008.pdf

Kelton, D.and A. Kiss. 2005. UNEP Judicial Handbook on Environmental Law. Introduction by C. Weeramantry. Nairobi: United Nations Environment Programme. p. xxi. www.unep.org/law/PDF/JUDICIAL_HBOOK_ENV_LAW.pdf

Lei, Bao. 2008. The Development of IPR Tribunals in Beijing in the Past Thirty Years. Beijing.

North Central Texas Council of Governments. 2009. Environmental Courts. www.nctcog.org/cs/cj/pdf/plans/dallas/le6.pdf

Pearlman, M. and M. Greenwood. 2002. Gowns, Phones and Cyberspace – Improving Court Services through Technology. Presentation at the 3rd Australia Institute of Judicial Administration (AIJA) Technology for Justice Conference. Sydney, Australia. 20–22 October. www.aija.org.au/tech3/program/presentations/AIJAspee.doc

Preston, B.J. 2008. Operating an Environment Court: The Experience of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. Inaugural Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Law for the Environmental Commission of Trinidad and Tobago. Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. 23 July. www.ttenvironmentalcommission.org/speechaddresses.htm (p. 2).

Republic of Kenya. 2009. Judicial Education and Training Workshop. News Release. 18 June. www.judiciary.go.ke/news_info/view_article.php?id=2607688

Sukharomna, S. 2008. Establishing Green Bench within the Supreme Court of Thailand. Presented at the Asia Pacific Regional Conference on Environmental Justice and Enforcement. Amari Watergate Hotel. Bangkok, Thailand. 14–16 January. www.roap.unep.org/program/Documents/Law08_presentations/Day1/Green_Bench_THA.pdf

Suskin, L. 2007. Report to the General Assembly on the Performance of the Environmental Court, Montpelier, Vermont: State of Vermont Office of the Court Administrator, p. 10. http://justusnet.synecology.com/pub/envcrt/EnvCrtrpt2007.pdf

The Scottish Government, Environmental Courts – Experience in Other Countries. 2005. www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/921/0017251.doc

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). 2007. Judicial Training Modules on Environmental Law: Application of Environmental Law by National Courts and Tribunals, pp. 179–180.

Zaelke, D., D. Kaniaru, and E. Kružíková, eds. 2009. Making Law Work: Environmental Compliance & Sustainable Development. Volume 1. London: International Law Publishers, p. 447.