English_for_Lawyers_2011

Unit 5. Environmental Law. Section 1. The Nature of Environmental Law

TEXT 1

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Conservation is the main problem facing humanity nowadays. The biosphere is strongly affected by all sorts of human activity. Mineral resources, rivers and forests of the Earth demand rational use. A wide variety of synthetic and numerous industrial materials alter the biosphere. The discharge of dust and gas into the atmosphere returns to the Earth in the form of acid rains. It also destroys the ozone layer of the Earth and causes “greenhouse effect”. The environmentally harmful consequences of human technological and industrial innovatory activities affected the formation and continuous development of law.

Environmental law is a body of (international or national) law that comprises those substantive, procedural and institutional rules which have their primary objective the protection of environment. The meaning of the term “environment” encompasses both the features and products of the natural world and those of human civilization – the living and working environment (see the Preamble of the Declaration of the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE)). Acid rain, ozone depletion, climate change, loss of biodiversity, toxic and hazardous wastes, pollution of rivers and depletion of freshwater resources are some of the issues for emergent addressing in the environmental law.

The system of legal rules regulating relations between society and nature in their interaction constitutes the subject of the environmental law. The aim of environmental law is the rational use of natural resources, conservation, revival and amelioration of the human environment, and providing for environmental safety. Land, air, depths, waters, forests, vegetation and wildlife, nature reserves are the objects of legal protection in environmental law.

As a legal subject environmental law possesses its substantial and procedural parts. 1. The subjects of envronmental law are the following: the people of Ukraine, the state (its appropriate authorities), individuals and legal entities, foreign states and other diferent groups of people.

The main source of environmental law is the law. The Constitution of Ukraine, the international agreements (where Ukraine is a participant), the law of Ukraine on protection of Environment (25.06.1991), other laws, legal regulations, decrees and instructions of the highest and local authorities of Ukraine constitute the sources of environmental law.

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Among the the main principles of the environmental law are: the priority of human’s healthy life, the rational use of natural resources, the unification of ecological and economical interests of society, the observance of environmental law requirements, the publicity in adoption of significant environmental decisions and the international collaboration in the field of conservation.

The citizens of Ukraine have their environmental rights, guarantees and duties. Human right to a decent viable or healthy environment, the existence of state and public control over the observance of law, and legal liability for the environmental damage are among them.

Accoprding to the law of Ukraine “About the Ptoperty” № 697-12 (7.02.1991) there are three main patterns of ownership on natural resources: state, municipal and private property. The environmental right of ownership is regarded as the combination of legal rules consolidating, regulating and protecting right of possession, right of use and right of disposal of natural resources in human interests.

* See the Preamble of Declaration of the United Nations Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE).

II.COMPREHENSION

1.A. Give the definitions for the following terms and expressions or explain in other words.

1.Conservation

2.Environmental law

3.The natural resources

4.The environmental right of ownership

B. Answer the following questions using the information from the text:

1.How do you understand the term conservation?

2.What consequences harmful to the environment do you know?

3.What is the meaning of the term “environment”?

4.What is the aim of environmental law?

5.What is the subject of environmental law?

6.What objects of environmental law do you know?

7.What are the main principles of environmental law?

8.What are the sources of environmental law?

9.What does the environmental right of ownership regulate?

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Unit 5. Environmental Law. Section 1. The Nature of Environmental Law

2.Complete the following sentences according to the information from the text:

1.The … demand rational use.

2.The discharge of dust and gas into the atmosphere returns to the Earth …

3.… is a body of (international or national) law that comprises those substantive, procedural and institutional rules which have their primary objective … .

4.The aim of environmental law is … .

5.The … are the objects of legal protection in environmental law.

6.The citizens of Ukraine have … .

7.Property law on natural resources is divided into … .

3.Match the following legal terms with their definitions:

III.VOCABULARY STUDY

1.Complete the following sentences by translating the words and expressions in brackets:

1.(Екологічне право) is a body of international/national law that comprises those substantive, procedural and institutional rules. 2. (Шкідливі наслідки) affected the formation and continuous development of environmental law. 3. The rational using of (природні ресурси) is one of the principles of environmental law. 4. The land, (атмосферне повітря, надра, рослинний та тваринний світ), waters, forests, (заповідники) are the objects of legal protection in environmental law. 5. The citizens of Ukraine have human right to a (здорове) environment.

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2.Complete the sentences with the words of the active vocabulary.

1.… and … are among the objects of environmental law.

2.… any action rendering the environment dirty.

3.The planet faces a diverse and growing range of … challenges.

4.A wide variety of synthetic and numerous industrial materials … the biosphere.

5.The discharge of dust and gas into the atmosphere destroys … of the Earth.

3.Complete the words using definitions

IV. GRAMMAR FOCUS

1.Copy out adjectives from the text and tick off their suffixes.

2.Make up sentences according to the model.

Model: gas/ The/ of/ dust/ and/ into/ atmosphere/ returns/ the/ to/ form/ discharge/ Earth/ in/./ the/ of/ acid/ the/ rains/ – The discharge of dust and gas into the atmosphere returns to the Earth in the form of acid rains.

1.The/divided/on/law/and/the/property/natural/into/state/resources/, /municipal/ is /private/ property.

2.variety /and /wide /materials /the /alter /of /synthetic /biosphere / numerous /A /industrial /.

3 procedural/ ./ As/ the/ subject/ environmental/ a/ law/ possesses/ legal/ substantial/ its/ and/ parts/

V. SPEAKING

1. Discuss in group:

− What are the aspects of urgent addressing in the environmental law? Use key words (resources, rational use, to regulate, the revival, the amelioration, to alter, the pollution, the conservation).

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−What is the main aim of environmental law? What environmentally harmful consequences do you know?

−Why is conservation so important nowadays?

−Explain in other words what pollution is.

−How do you understand the main principles of environmental law?

−Explain the difference between: subjects and objects of the environmental law?

2.Speak on the following:

−What do you think about the possibility to have a healthy and industrialized environment in the same time?

−What standards are more important for you – the standard of living or the quality of life?

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Unit 5. Environmental Law

Section 2. International Environmental Law

I. LEAD-IN

1. Answer the following questions:

What do you know about public international law? What branches of public international law can you name?

2.Match the following English words and expressions with their Ukrainian equivalents:

TEXT 2

Read the text to understand what information is of primary importance or new for you.

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW:

Notes on the text:

United Nations Convention on the Human Environment (UNCHE)

United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)

the International Court of Justice (ICJ)

United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The preservation of environment and its protection from pollution has recently assumed global proportions. The growth of international environmental issues is reflected in the large body of principles and rules of international environmental law. As a result of a complex interplay between governments, non-governmental actors and international

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Unit 5. Environmental Law. Section 2. International Environmental Law

organizations, many treaties and international acts have appeared since the second half of the nineteenth century. (The table of treaties and others international acts is given in the references [№ 2: xix-xl]).

International environmental law has evolved over at least four distinct periods. It reflects developments in scientific knowledge, the application of new technologies and understanding of their impacts, changes in political consciousness and the changing structure of the international legal order and institutions. The first period began with bilateral treaties in the nineteenth century and concluded with the creation of the new international organisations in 1945. The second period commenced with the creation of the UN and culminated with the UN Conference on Human Environment, held in Stockholm in June 1972. The third period ran from the 1972 Stockholm Conference and concluded with UNCED in June 1992. The fourth period may be characterised as the period of integration: when environmental concerns are recognized as a matter of international law and policy.

The international environmental law is the body of international law that concerns the protection of the global environment. It is originally associated with the principle that states must not permit the use of their territory in such a way as to injure the territory of other states. International environmental law has since been expanded by a plethora of legally-binding international agreements. These encompass a wide variety of issue-areas, from terrestrial, marine and atmospheric pollution through to wildlife and biodiversity protection.

International environmental law derives its content from four main sources: 1) International agreements (also called treaties, conventions, international legal instruments, pacts, protocols, covenants); 2) Customary international law; 3) General principles of law; 4) Other/ new sources (e.g., court decisions (case-law), resolutions, declarations, doctrine, recommendations given by world organizations etc.).

The majority of the conventions relating to international environmental law are specific; that means that they deal directly with environmental issues. Protocols are like mini-agreements that "hang off " the main treaty. They are especially useful in the environment field, where they can be used to update scientific knowledge. Protocols are generally much easier to generate than a treaty and they can enter into force very quickly. The most widely-known protocol in international environmental law is the Kyoto

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Protocol. Customary international law represents the norms and rules that countries follow as a matter of custom and they are so prevalent that they bind all states in the world. International environmental law also includes the opinions of international courts and tribunals. The courts include: the International Court of Justice (ICJ); the Law of the Sea Court; the European Court of Justice; regional treaty tribunals.

International environmental law is heavily influenced by a collection of organizing principles. The chief guiding principle is that states have sovereignty (full power) over their natural resources and the responsibility not to cause environmental damage. All other international environmental law principles evolved with this principle in the background. The principle of good neighbourliness and international co-operation; the principle of preventive action; the precautionary principle; the polluter-pays principle; the principle of sustainable development (WSSD) – integration of environmental protection and economic development; the principle of environmental procedural rights and the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, are among them.

A new programme area has been agreed by the UNEP Legal Experts Group. The main purpose of this programme is to promote public awareness, education, information and public participation, including the development of natural rules, laws and standards.

II. DEVELOPMENT

1. Find in the text the information on

a)the periods of international environmental law

b)its main sources

c)the international environmental law principles

2.Complete the following sentences according to the information from the text:

1.The growth of international environmental issues is reflected in … .

2.International environmental law has since been expanded by … .

3.The chief guiding principle is … .

4.The most widely-known protocol in international environmental law is … .

5.Ecological interdependence and international co-operation explain … .

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3.Read the text below. Copy out the underlined word combinations from it and give their Ukrainian equivalents:

UNCED reflected the growing range of economic activities which subject to international legal regulation. UNCED agreed environmental priorities which were essentially divided into two categories: those relating to the protection of various environmental media, and those relating to the regulation of particular activities or products. The first category constitute: protection of the atmosphere, in particular by climate change, ozone depletion and ground level and transboundary air pollution; protection of land resources; halting deforestation; conservation of biological diversity; protection of freshwater resources; and protection of oceans and seas (including coastal areas) and marine living resources. The second category of major issues identified products of human technological and industrial innovation which are considered to be harmful to the environment constitute the management of: biotechnology; toxic chemicals, including their international trade; agricultural practice; hazardous wastes, including their international trade; solid wastes and sewage-related issues; and radioactive wastes [from references № 2: p.10, 1995].

4.Tell about features causing the deterioration of environment.

5.Please, give your explanation of the following problems:

1)the origin of environmental problems facing humanity nowadays;

2)modern ways of their elimination.

III. PRACTICE AND EXPERIENCE

1. Make up а dialogue:

A:Say that a number of measures must be taken to stop air pollution.

B:Answer that a lot of anti-pollution measures are taken by governments of many countries throughout the world.

A:Reply that air pollution is much worse in Western countries.

B:Answer that this is true but it is also a big problem in Ukraine because of Chernobyl disaster.

A:Add that air pollution is spreading much more in big industrial and overpopulated cities such as in Kharkiv, Zaporizhiya, Donetsk.

B:Tell that environmental problems also take place in outer space. There are three types of them: orbital space debris; environmental damage

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caused on or to other planets as a result of human exploratory activity; and environmental damage caused on the Earth as a result of man-made objects of outer space.

A:Ask to explain your interlocutor what does “space debris” mean.

B:Explain that it constitutes an environmental hazard as it increases the risk of collision and consequential damage; because of the high speed at which they travel, objects as small as one centimeter can penetrate the crew compartments of spacecrafts, and debris one-half millimeter in size can kill an astronaut protected only by a spacesuit.

2.Situation: you are at the European symposium devoted to the Atmosphere and Freshwater resources Protection. Make up and dramatize you own dialogue between the fighters for Conservation. Use the terms and notions:

−urban pollution, ozone depletion, climate change, outer space; customary law and regional rules, UNCED, ECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution and its Protocols;.

−the protection of the marine environment, pollution, dumping by vessels at sea, offshore vessels, seabed activities, coastal zones, global deterioration in the quality of the marine environment, destruction of habitats, eutrophication from nutrients and sewage, UNCLOS, UNEP REGIONAL Seas Programme, OSPAR Marine Pollution Convention.

[You can obtain additional information in Philippe Sand.’s Principles of international environmental law І, 1995 (the references № 2:): chapters 7, 9 and 11, p. 243-287; 346-366, 456-491].

3. Explain the difference between:

−the notion of the “environment” and the definition of Environmental law

−the objective and objects of Environmental law

−its main principles and legal practices

4.Prove the necessity of nuclear safety in the world. Use the following key-expressions:

−radioactive materials;

−the International Atomic Energy Agency;

−the European Atomic Energy Agency;

−the Nuclear Energy Agency;

−treaty obligations;

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