The Human Right to Science and Its Relationship to International Environmental Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 625-656
Author(s):  
Anna-Maria Hubert
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Environmental Regimes ◽  
The Right

Abstract This article explores the potential contribution of international human rights law – specifically, the oft-neglected ‘right to science’ – to the interpretation, operation and progressive development of international environmental law. Science and its applications play a critical role in environmental protection. At the same time, society faces persistent controversies at this interface. Environmental regimes may lack sufficient norms and tools for regulating upstream science and innovation processes because they tend to focus narrowly on physical harms to the environment and may not address the wider ethical, legal, social and political concerns. The human right to science, which is codified in various international and regional human rights instruments, may serve to augment international environmental law and contribute to more effective, equitable and democratically legitimate and accountable processes and outcomes in relation to the application of science and technology in environmental regimes. The article begins by outlining the scope and contents of, as well as the limitations on, the right to science, focusing on Article 15(1)(b) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and its overlaps with the norms of international environmental law.1 It then analyses the ways in which the right to science may influence the development of international environmental law by elucidating mechanisms for the integration of a human rights perspective in science and technology and by outlining its potential substantive contributions to the development of international environmental law.

Sustainable Development and Human Rights: An Integrated Conception

1996 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 796-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dominic McGoldrick
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
European Court ◽  
International Human

This article seeks to present an integrated conception of sustainable development, with particular emphasis on the contribution of international human rights law and theory. Part II considers a structural conception of sustainable development. Part III considers parallels between sustainable development and self-determination. Part IV provides some general reflections on international environmental law and international human rights law in terms of analogous concepts, principles and systems. What similarities are there and what differences? Part V considers the progress made towards recognition of a “human right to the environment”. Part VI considers how international environmental claims could be brought within the existing international human rights complaint systems. Part VII analyses the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in theLopez Ostracase (1994), the leading case on environmental claims to have reached that Court.

scholarly journals THE RIGHT TO VOTE FOR NON-RESIDENT CITIZENS IN EUROPE

2016 ◽  
Vol 65 (4) ◽  
pp. 859-894 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Lappin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
European Court ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
Right To Vote ◽  
The Right ◽  
Political Right

AbstractThe right to vote is the most important political right in international human rights law. Framed within the broader right of political participation, it is the only right in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights not guaranteed as a universal human right but rather as a citizen's right. While limitations on the right to vote are permissible in respect of citizenship and age, residency-based restrictions are not explicitly provided. However, recent judgments of the European Court of Human Rights endorse a view that voting rights may be conditioned on residency on the grounds of an individual's bond to their country-of-origin and the extent to which laws passed by that government would affect them. This article questions this proposition and explores whether disenfranchisement based solely on residency constitutes an unreasonable and discriminatory restriction to the essence of the right.

scholarly journals The CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT ON THE HUMAN RIGHT TO ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS OF A SPECIFIED QUALITY (SAFE, CLEAN, HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT): SOME INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ISSUES

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-112
Author(s):  
Olha Sushyk ◽  
Olena Shompol
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Environmental Agreements ◽  
Ghg Emissions ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Human Environment ◽  
The Right

This article discusses recognition between climate change and human rights at the international level. The analysis shows that despite the UN climate change framework does not adequately address the magnitude of the threat posed by climate change related harm to human rights, domestic, regional or international courts must take account of its provisions in deciding cases. The article argues that the causes for climate cases are diverse, whereby the most often ones are those referring to the competent public authority’s failure to fulfil its obligation to regulate limitations of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Further identify the links between human rights and environmental protection, were apparent at least from the first international conference on the human environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. More broadly, it demonstrates international environmental agreements, were some aspects of the right to environmental conditions of a specified quality are identify.  This article discusses also theoretical issues of individual environmental rights and the right to environmental safety in Ukraine. Keywords: climate, human rights, environmental, Ukraine

scholarly journals The Right of Self-Determination: Its Emergence, Development, and Controversy

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Munafrizal Manan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Self Determination

This paper discusses the right of self-determinationfrom  international  law  and international human rights law perspective. It traces the emergence and development of self-determination from political principle to human right. It also explores the controversy of the right of self-determination. There have been different and even contradictory interpretations of the right of self-determination. Besides, there is no consensus on the mechanism to apply the right of self-determination. Both international law and international human rights law are vague about this.

The Human Right to Land, for Peasants and for All: Tracing the Social Function of Property to 1948

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-452
Author(s):  
Corina Heri
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Function ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Present Contribution ◽  
Collective Ownership ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Right ◽  
Implementation Gaps ◽  
Made In

ABSTRACT In 1948, Article 17 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) pioneered a right to (individual and collective) ownership of property. Today, the right to property—specifically the social function of property, which was a mainstay of the discussions—can be linked to the idea of a human right to land, which has been particularly prevalent in the discourse concerning the creation of human rights protections specific to peasants. The peasant rights process highlights a number of normative and implementation gaps in international human rights law, including relating to land use and tenure. The present contribution will argue that the claims made in this context are neither new nor niche but relate to universal human rights entitlements and have existed at least since the drafting of the UDHR. They are not only an iteration of an age-old class struggle but are at the forefront of a contemporary critique of the existing international legal system as a whole. While existing human rights, including the right to property, can be part of a response to these critiques, however, neither peasant rights nor the activists who promote them can be expected to resolve them alone.

The Limits of Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 109-130
Author(s):  
Michelle Jurkovich
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Right ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Right To Food ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Right

This chapter considers the puzzling role of international law around the right to food and examines why the existing law has been unable to generate norms within the advocacy community. It explores the reasons why international anti-hunger organizations rarely legitimate the right to food in legal terms and how this case can challenge the understanding of the relationships between norms, human rights, and law. It also provides a conceptual discussion of the distinction between formal law and norms, underscoring the importance of not conflating the two concepts. The chapter argues that many international anti-hunger organizations still do not conceptualize food as a human right, making international human rights law less relevant. It looks at the hunger case that suggests there is nothing automatic about law generating norms among activists or society at large.

scholarly journals Due Diligence in International Environmental Law and International Human Rights Law: A Comparative Legal Study of the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement and Positive Obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Medes Malaihollo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Due Diligence ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
International Human

AbstractDue diligence is a frequently employed notion in international law, yet much is still to be explored about this concept. This article aims to contribute to an understanding of due diligence obligations in international law, which is useful as it can form the basis for a further clarification of corresponding legal rights of subjects of international law. With this purpose in mind, this article initiates the construction of a working model of due diligence in international law by exploring this notion from two perspectives: an accountability perspective and a regulatory perspective. Subsequently, this article will use this model to compare the operation of due diligence obligations in two branches of international law: international environmental law and international human rights law. In doing so, it will become clear that due diligence contains two core elements: ‘reasonableness’ and ‘good faith’. Moreover, it will become apparent that the operation of due diligence obligations in these two branches has implications for systemic issues in international law. Further research on the operation of due diligence obligations in other branches of international law is therefore recommended.

scholarly journals The ‘Rights’ Way to Democratize the Science–Policy Interface in International Environmental Law? A Reply to Anna-Maria Hubert

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 657-664
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Peel
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
International Environmental Law ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Public Inputs ◽  
Science Policy Interface ◽  
The Right ◽  
Human Rights Based Approach

Abstract Science is widely regarded as being necessary for effective international environmental decision-making and risk assessment processes. However, it is equally well recognized that uncertainties or the complexity of phenomena under study mean that science may only offer partial knowledge for environmental problems in many circumstances. ‘Democratization’ of science is often proposed as a solution to this dilemma. This may involve incorporating a wider spectrum of expert views and public inputs in risk assessments of new technologies, public participation in science through so-called ‘citizen science’ initiatives or the application of the precautionary principle. This reply reviews these approaches and contrasts them with another tantalizing possibility offered by Anna-Maria Hubert’s article; a human rights-based approach drawing on the ‘oft-neglected’ right to science. It assesses the extent to which a rights-based approach, utilizing the right to science, offers a way to bridge the gap between science and democracy in contested international environmental legal decision-making processes. While it concludes that there are important potential benefits to the application of the right to science in international environmental law, it is far from clear that it provides a panacea given the limitations on the right expressed in the international human rights instruments in which it is found, such as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Instead, the right to science can be seen as placing another thumb on the scales – alongside the precautionary and participatory approaches – in favour of enabling broader, more democratically accountable decision-making in cases of uncertain science and contested environmental risks.

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