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The Canadian Approach to International Environmental Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2016

J. Alan Beesley
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Extract

The Canadian approach to international environmental law can be stated simply and briefly. First, this law is inadequate both in scope and substance; it is incomplete, inconsistent, fragmentary, and largely inchoate. Second, it must be developed on the basis of the principle that states have a duty to preserve the environment and must accept responsibility for any damage they cause to the environment of another state or to the environment beyond any state’s jurisdiction. Third, both substantive and adjectival law must be developed to enable effective application of this principle, either through existing institutions or through new ones established for the purpose of resolving environmental disputes.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international , Volume 11 , 1974 , pp. 3 - 12
Copyright
Copyright © The Canadian Council on International Law / Conseil Canadien de Droit International, representing the Board of Editors, Canadian Yearbook of International Law / Comité de Rédaction, Annuaire Canadien de Droit International 1974

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References

1 Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, S.C. 1970, c. 67; Canada Shipping Act, as amended, S.C. 1970–71, c.27; Territorial Seas and Fishing Zones Act, as amended, S.C. 1970, c. 68; Fisheries Act, as amended, S.C. 1970, c. 63.

2 Douglas, W. O., “Pollution, An International Problem Needing International Solutions,” 7 Texas Int’l L. Forum 3 (1971).Google Scholar

3 Beesley, J. A., “The Law of the Sea Conference: Factors Behind Canada’s Stance,” International Perspectives 28, July-August 1972.Google Scholar

4 Canadian Note to the government of the United States on the Arctic Waters Pollution Prevention Act, H.C. Deb. (Can.), April 17, 1970, at 6027, which noted two recent instances of state practice developing customary international law: the 1945 Truman Proclamation on the Continental Shelf and the 1966 unilateral establishment of exclusive fishing zones by the United States. See also Oppenheim, I, International Law 25 (7th ed. Lauterpacht) and Right of Passage Case, [1960] I.C.J. Rep. 99.Google Scholar

5 Rt. Hon. Pierre Trudeau, Statement by the Prime Minister to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Press, April 15, 1970. Hon. Mitchell Sharp, Statement to the House of Commons, H.C. Deb.(Can.), April 16, 1970.

6 Hon. Mitchell Sharp, ibid.; J.A. Beesley, Statement on the Law of the Sea, UNGA (XXVII), A/C 1/PV1906.

7 53 Annuaire de l’Institute de Droit International Pt. II, 255 (Edinburgh Session, Sept. 1969).

8 UNGA A/Gonf. 48/14 (XXVII).

9 International Law Association, Report on the UN Conference on the Human Environment 2 (I.L.A. Conference, New York, 1972).

10 UNGA Committee II, A/C 2/L1227 (XXVII).

11 Ibid., A/C 2/L1233 (XXVII).

12 Ambassador J. E. G. Hardy, Statement of the Second Committee of the 27th General Assembly, A/C 2/SR 1479.

13 UNGA A/Res. 2996 (XXVII).

14 United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, A/Conf. 48111/ Annex III.