Multilateralism, Environmental Law, and the Jurisprudence of International Courts and Tribunals

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to focus on the locus standi in protection of the community of interests, including its historical development. Therefore, the chapter is devoted to the implementation and the evolution of a procedural right of standing in the context of international adjudication to protect community of interests in environmental matters. The locus standi of states in relation to the protection of the environment before international courts and tribunals, such as the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and human rights courts, such as the European Court of Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, will be investigated. It is suggested in this chapter that the recent development in environmental multilateralism is firmly entrenched in human rights law, as has been evidenced by the case law of human rights courts, national courts, and the jurisprudence of the UN Human Rights Committee.