International Environmental Law

summary of lecture given at Universitas Danubiana (May 20, 1998)

Text International Environmental Law threats branch of the International Public Law that has been in strong process of developing last few decades. Author research genesis and development of the international environmental law. In this effort at first points at the formed general rules and principles of the international law that have to be respected in environmentally based or oriented relations, both from states and at the level of international organizations, as well as in process of forming new ecologically oriented and by law regulated relations. Second, much wider part of this study is oriented at new principles of law science that are differentia specifica of the International Environmental Law branch.

Dr. Joldžić points that in process of developing trough many years, by the regulation of various individual questions that have been expressed as the ecological, approaching through the time a much wider aspect of their perceiving - parallel at the level of national legislation as well as of the international relations, law has always started from already stated and confirmed principles. From this reason, the author explains, rules that treat, for example, rights of neighbors and rules on the damage compensation, have been adopted from the other law branches - mostly from the civil law, adapted and included in the ecology law relations. As the objects and questions in reference with the ecology law have multiplied, it has become obvious that the used principles of the existing law branches are insufficient to the new tasks adequate accessing. A high necessity has been expressed for the establishing a new set of principles adequate to regulate principally new questions. It become clear that for concrete types of ecology law relations new principles should be established and joined to the law science resources. It has already happened and is still happening today. Ecology law has been shown as a changeable and developing science branch. This became obvious especially after the year 1972, when, on the base of the UN Decision No 2398, brought into life on the "United Nations XIII General Assembly", have been held in Stockholm, at the June 16, 1972 "Conference on the Human Environment". At this Conference have been done some important steps on the global preservation of the environment. First of all have been organized Commission with only one aim: protection of the environment. Also has been formulated document known as "Stockholm Declaration", which proclaims the right and the obligation of the all sovereign states to preserve environment for today and future generations, also their obligation to cooperate on this field. Further, an obligation has been set for states to cooperate on establishing international agreements concerning the environmental matter (in essence: conventions) by which should be regulated questions of the environment preservation on the international area and on the territories of sovereign states - especially from outer space pollution. In accordance to this task has been defined obligation of defining the responsibility for these mentioned pollution. By this document of international law has been created a field for faster development of many next principles of International Ecology Law. Since then those principles have been in process of constant forming and refining. Author points that in the actual moment of their development they can be divided into groups, according to their characteristics, nevertheless many of them have some but not the all-same characteristics. This leads the author to the conclusion that some of them can be observed from different angles and, concerning this fact, systematized differently by the authors. Dr. Joldžić states this opinion by his personal systematization of Environmental Law Principles into five groups, expressing personal view by some differences, in comparing another such text, written by Hunter David, Sommer Julia and Vaughan Scott: Concepts and Principles of International Environmental Law: An Introduction, (UNEP, Geneva, Switzerland, 1994). In his work Dr. Joldžić analyzes the actual life of International Environmental Law and it's principles by their incorporation in the actual Yugoslav legislature.

[1] Research Fellow at the Institute for Sociological and Criminological Researches, Belgrade, SCG
Environmental law expert on the list of the CEDAR-CEED (Expert profile No. 309) and the Regional Environmental Experts Database (REED), as well on the list of UN ECPD
e-mail: vladanj@gef.bg.ac.yu

This article was downloaded / printed from www.danube-cooperation.com