COI publishes special issue on environmental and climate conflicts
After the 2022 conference on Courts as an Arena for Societal Change in Leiden, COI researchers collaborated with conference attendees to publish a special issue of the European Law Journal covering diverse aspects of the evolving role of courts in addressing environmental and climate issues.
Our special issue with the European Law Journal on Courts as an arena for societal change: An appraisal in the age of “environmental democracy,” is now available online.
The impacts of environmental challenges, including climate change, are increasingly felt by individuals across the globe. Amidst the critical and, some argue, urgent nature of these challenges, and the perceived sluggishness of the executive and legislative branches of government in addressing them, citizens and civil society movements are increasingly seeking redress through judicial avenues. This trend shines a new light on fundamental questions about the role of law in society and the interplay between the political and the legal. It particularly challenges traditional notions of the judiciary's role, begging important questions: What motivates citizens to bring socially charged issues before the courts, and how do institutional frameworks influence the adjudication of such issues? What roles do governments, parliaments, courts and civil society play in these processes? What leads courts to render substantive decisions on these issues, or why do they refrain from doing so? What complexities arise when judges make decisions in such politically charged contexts? How can concerns about judicial independence and impartiality be balanced with evolving public expectations around the role of the courts? And what consequences does this shifting role have for the judiciary's self-image and its perceived legitimacy? Environmental and climate change law presents a particularly fertile terrain to explore these questions, as demonstrated in this special issue.
The issue was co-edited by Asmaa Khadim, Jannemieke Ouwerkerk, Miranda Boone and Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh. It contains papers by Angelika Krężel, Henri de Waele, Asmaa Khadim, Douwe de Lange, Giorgio Cataldo, Carlotta Garofalo, Armelle Gouritin, Juliana de Augustinis, Paolo Mazzotti, Josiah David F. Quising and Tolulope N. Ogboru, as well as a small poem by artist, Jenna Robertson.
A big thank you to all of the authors who contributed their ideas, along with Karine Caunes and the editorial team at the European Law Journal, for their hard work in bringing these ideas to a wider audience!