Capacity Building for Environmental Law in the South Pacific
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Capacity building for environmental law in the South Pacific Pepe Clarke, Ilona Millar and Kaspar Sollberger South Pacific Regional Environmental Law Capacity Building Project Scoping Report South Pacific Regional Environmental Law Capacity Building Project Scoping Report Pepe Clarke, Ilona Millar, Kaspar Sollberger Environmental Defender’s Office, Sydney, Australia The designation of geographical entities in this book, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IUCN or the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of IUCN or BMZ. This publication has been made possible in part by funding from BMZ. Published by: IUCN, Gland, Switzerland in collaboration with the IUCN Regional Office for Oceania, Suva, Fiji and the IUCN Environmental Law Centre, Bonn, Germany Copyright: © 2008 International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without prior written permission from the copyright holder provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of this publication for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Citation: Clarke, Pepe, Ilona Millar, Kaspar Sollberger (2008). South Pacific Regional Environmental Law Capacity Building Project. Scoping Report. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. xvi + 183. ISBN: 978-2-8317-1024-2 Cover design by: IUCN Environmental Law Centre Cover photo: Yasawas, Fiji, photo by Stuart Chape, Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme Layout by: Druck Center Meckenheim GmbH Produced by: IUCN Environmental Law Centre Printed by: Max Marketing & Publishing Ltd, Fiji Available from: The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Publications Services Rue Mauverney 28 1196 Gland Switzerland Tel +41 22 999 0000 Fax +41 22 999 0010 [email protected] www.iucn.org/publications A catalogue of IUCN publications is also available. The text of this book is printed on Focus 80gsm paper, supplied by an FSC (COC) accredited supplier. Table of Contents Executive Summary.................................................................................................................. IX Preface ...................................................................................................................................... XI Foreword ................................................................................................................................... XIII Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................... XV 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Project Goals and Objectives......................................................................................... 1 1.2 Project Partners.............................................................................................................. 2 1.2.1 IUCN Environmental Law Program ...................................................................... 2 1.2.2 Environmental Defender´s Office.......................................................................... 3 1.2.3 Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program ................................... 4 2 Environmental Issues in the South Pacific ....................................................................... 7 3 Environmental Law and Policy in the South Pacific......................................................... 11 3.1 International Environmental Law .................................................................................... 11 3.1.1 International Agreements – Biodiversity and Natural Resource Management ..... 11 3.1.2 International Agreements – Pollution and Waste ................................................. 17 3.2 Regional Environmental Law.......................................................................................... 22 3.3 Relationship between International and Regional Conventions ..................................... 27 3.4 Implementation of International Environmental Law in the South Pacific ...................... 27 3.4.1 Ratification ........................................................................................................... 28 3.4.2 Implementation .................................................................................................... 28 3.4.3 Compliance .......................................................................................................... 30 3.4.4 Enforcement......................................................................................................... 31 3.5 National and Provincial Environmental Law ................................................................... 32 3.5.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................... 32 3.5.2 Recent Environmental Legislation........................................................................ 33 3.5.3 Overview of Key Environmental Laws.................................................................. 33 3.6 Custom and Traditional Legal Systems.......................................................................... 36 4 Key Institutions and Capacity-Building Programs ........................................................... 39 4.1 International and Regional Institutions ........................................................................... 39 4.1.1 Intergovernmental Institutions.............................................................................. 39 4.1.2 Non-Government Institutions............................................................................... 40 4.2 National and Provincial Institutions ................................................................................ 41 V 4.2.1 Government Agencies.......................................................................................... 41 4.2.2 Non-Government Organisations .......................................................................... 43 4.2.3 Academic Institutions........................................................................................... 44 4.2.4 Judiciary............................................................................................................... 45 5 Proposed Capacity Building Strategy and Activities ....................................................... 47 5.1 Capacity-Building Strategies.......................................................................................... 47 5.1.1 Domestic Capacity-Building Strategies ............................................................... 48 5.1.1.1 Building Government Legal Capacity ..................................................... 48 5.1.1.2 Policy and Law Reform........................................................................... 53 5.1.1.3 Community Legal Education .................................................................. 56 5.1.1.4 Public Interest Environmental Litigation ................................................. 58 5.1.1.5 Building Civil Society Legal Capacity ..................................................... 60 5.1.1.6 Building Academic Capacity................................................................... 64 5.1.1.7 Building Judicial Capacity ...................................................................... 64 5.1.2 Regional Capacity Building Strategies................................................................. 64 5.1.2.1 Monitoring and Reporting....................................................................... 64 5.1.2.2 Formal Complaint Mechanisms.............................................................. 65 5.1.2.3 Multilateral Negotiations......................................................................... 66 5.1.2.4 Dispute Resolution Proceedings ............................................................ 67 5.1.2.5 Legal Action in International Tribunals.................................................... 67 5.2 Proposed Capacity-Building Activities........................................................................... 68 5.2.1 Outreach and Consultation .................................................................................. 69 5.2.2 Enabling Communication and Networking........................................................... 69 5.2.3 Technical Assistance............................................................................................ 70 5.2.3.1 Legal and Policy Advice ......................................................................... 70 5.2.3.2 Technical and Scientific Assistance ....................................................... 71 5.2.3.3 Governance Support .............................................................................. 71 5.2.4 Professional and Academic Exchanges............................................................... 71 5.2.5 Training Programs................................................................................................ 72 5.2.6 Community Education.......................................................................................... 73 5.2.7 Conferences, Seminars and Meetings