Article

Numéro spécial de périodique

Enhancing the protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts : the Draft Principles of the International Law Commission and Beyond

Anne Dienelt and Britta Sjöstedt (special ed.)

• Goettingen journal of international law, Vol. 10, no. 1, 2020, p. 13-343

English

Source : https://www.gojil.eu/101-home (last accessed on 18.05.2022)

In 2011, the UN International Law Commission (ILC) took up the topic Protection of the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflicts. Since the inclusion of the item on the ILC’s agenda, the Commission has published five reports by the two special rapporteurs, Dr. Marie Jacobsson (2011-2016) and Dr. Marja Lehto (2017-). In 2019, the plenary adopted 28 Draft Principles on first reading. Nevertheless, it was clear from the beginning that the ILC would not be able to exhaustively deal with the topic for two main reasons. First, the Commission has a limited mandate. Second, some related issues touch upon controversial and political matters. Consequently, the ILC has been reluctant to include some of these issues in its workflow. Therefore, the adoption of the Draft Principles should be regarded as a starting point for shaping and developing the legal framework for environmental protection in relation to armed conflicts. As a part of that process, Hamburg University and Lund University organized an international workshop in March 2019 in Hamburg. Several members of the ILC, including two special rapporteurs, academic legal experts, and practitioners, attended the workshop to discuss the Draft Principles. The discussion also focused on some issues not covered by the ILC, such as the implications for gender and climate security. The engaging dialogue in Hamburg has inspired the publication of this Special Issue of the Goettingen Journal of International Law (GoJIL) to ensure that the outcomes and ideas of the workshop reach a wider audience. It has also contributed to maintaining the momentum of this topical area of international law by inviting contributions from researchers not present during the workshop in Hamburg.

• Full text
• More information is available for logged in users

• Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts : an overview of the International Law Commission's ongoing work / Marie Jacobsson and Marja Lehto
• Reflections on the legality of attacks against the natural environment by way of reprisals / Stavros-Evdokimos Pantazopoulos
• Protecting protected areas in bello : learning from institutional design and conflict resilience in the Greater Virunga and Kidepo Landscapes / Elaine (Lan Yin) Hsiao
• Through the looking glass : corporate actors and environmental harm beyond the ILC / Daniëlla Dam-de Jong and Saskia Wolters
• Enhancing environmental protection during occupation through human rights / Karen Hulme
• The Martens Clause and environmental protection in relation to armed conflicts / Dieter Fleck
• Precaution in international environmental law and precautions in the law of armed conflict / Michael Bothe