Policy challenges in public interest litigation through specialized environmental courts: lessons from the Chinese and Australian experience

Patricia Blazey

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

Abstract

Devising effective responses to the scale and threat of environmental degradation have been challenges that policy makers at both the international and domestic levels continue to grapple with. As the implementation of these measures not only involves the imposition of costs on the community, but also require substantial sacrifices from the community if they are to have any prospect of succeeding, it is essential that the measures gain the public’s acceptance. This article argues that for the public to embrace the sacrifices that these measures will entail, it is essential that the community as stakeholders are given a say in the process. Whilst active community participation can be fostered in several ways, this article focuses on the empowerment of the community to bring public interest lawsuits against acts or omissions that are either likely to result in, or do in fact result in environmental malfeasance. Both China and some of the states in Australia have legal frameworks that are designed to foster public interest litigation but as this article demonstrates, the general public’s involvement is limited due to the hurdles inherent in each legal system.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages20
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 10 Jul 2017
EventEast Asia Law and Society Association Conference Singapore 2016: Centre for Asian Legal Studies - Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Duration: 22 Sept 201623 Sept 2016
Conference number: 1
http://law.nus.edu.sg/pdfs/cals/events/InauguralAsianLawSocietyAssociationConference2016.pdf

Conference

ConferenceEast Asia Law and Society Association Conference Singapore 2016
Abbreviated titleAsian Law
Country/TerritorySingapore
CitySingapore
Period22/09/1623/09/16
Internet address

Bibliographical note

submitted for publication

Keywords

  • public interest ligitation
  • China, Australia

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