Adopting an International Covenant for the Protection of the Environment
Taking environmental rights seriously
by Yann AGUILA,Member of the Paris Bar, Former Member of the Council of State,President of the n!ironment Committee of the Club des "uristes #yanna$uila%bredin&rat'com(International en!ironmental la) is characteri*ed by a &rofusion of technicalnorms )ith the en!ironment or sustainable de!elo&ment as their main orsecondary focus, bac+ed by many international institutions and or$ani*ations' he ado&tion of an
authentic binding treaty
encom&assin$ all the basic&rinci&les )ould $i!e international en!ironment la) the cornerstone it needs' Auni!ersal bindin$ document )ould stren$then the &rotection of human ri$htsrelated to the ri$ht to a healthy en!ironment' In -./0, 1fty years after theado&tion of
the two international covenants of 1966
#the InternationalCo!enant on Ci!il and Political 2i$hts and the International Co!enant onconomic, Social, and Cultural 2i$hts(, it is no) time to su&&lement the structure)ith the
third generation of human rights
and the ado&tion of the
International Covenant on the Protection of the Environment
' he ado&tion of such a treaty is a ma3or &ro&osal from the recent n!ironmentCommittee 4or+in$ Pa&er' his re&ort is the &roduct of a lon$ )or+ )ith the&ros&ect of ha!in$ an o!er!ie) of the disci&line to identify its )ea+nesses and its&otential
'
I. nify International Environmental !aw in a "ounding #reaty
he 1rst bene1t of a treaty on en!ironmental &rinci&les is its totemic !alue tostructure the disci&line' International en!ironmental la) has a need for unity'Characteri*ed by its fra$mentation, it includes many im&ortant treaties on!arious sub3ects related to technical as&ects of the &rotection of theen!ironment, such as climate, biodi!ersity, deserti1cation, chemicals, etc' achcon!ention $o!erns by its o)n set of rules and, as a conse5uence, the system asa )hole is characteri*ed by its lac+ of unity' Ado&tin$ a sin$le documentcontainin$ all $eneral en!ironmental la) &rinci&les )ould be a si$ni1cant ste&for)ard' S&eci1c a$reements )ould then be considered as dero$atin$ from these$eneral &rinci&les in some areas of en!ironmental la)'/
his re&ort &ut for)ard t)enty6one &ro&osals to 7 stren$then the e8ciency of international en!ironmental la) 9' A!ailable at : htt&:;;)))'leclubdes3uristes'com;ra&&ort6renforcer6le8cacite6du6droit6international6de6len!ironnement6de!oirs6des6etats6droits6des6indi!idus;
he second bene1t of such a te<t is to create a case la) dynamic' Similar to )hatoccurred in France follo)in$ the ado&tion of the Constitutional n!ironmentCharter in -..=, a catalo$ue of &rinci&les mi$ht )ell ha!e an &rofound im&act onthe le$al system' <&erience sho)s that ado&tin$ such a basic la) stimulatescase la) in >&uttin$ these &rinci&les in action, ramifyin$ them, e<tendin$ them,a&&lyin$ them in a )ise and reasonable )ay, to all hy&otheses?, Portalis )rote
' Afoundin$ te<t feeds case la)' It creates a 3uris&rudential force )hich ins&ires all 3udicial bodies'
II. $tructuring the %iscipline with a &inding #reaty
here are many international declarations @
and as such non'binding
@assertin$ en!ironmental la) &rinci&les' hey ha!e been ado&ted either durin$en!ironmental conferences #Stoc+holm eclaration /-, 2io eclaration /-(or under the ae$is of the General Assembly of the United Dations #4orld Charterfor Dature /E-, A;2S;;('International declarations are nonetheless non6bindin$' It is time no) to inte$ratethe &rinci&les for the en!ironmental &rotection into an authentic bindin$ treaty' he dierence bet)een a mere declaration and a treaty is fundamental:
treatiesare invocable by parties in courts( such as the two internationalcovenants
' It )ould enable a national court to re!ie) la)s and re$ulations inli$ht of en!ironmental &rinci&les, )hich is not currently &ossible in res&ect of sim&le declarations )ithout le$al force' Certainly, some countries ha!e alreadyenshrined these &rinci&les in te<ts )ith constitutional !alue, such as France )iththe constitutional n!ironment Charter in -..=' Ho)e!er, this is not the case)ith many countries )hich, at best, ha!e con1ned themsel!es to establishin$ onesole &rinci&le in their constitution 6 the ri$ht to a healthy en!ironment' Ha!in$ atrue catalo$ue of the mandatory foundin$ &rinci&les )ill usefully su&&lement thele$al structure'
#his treaty would be to the *io %eclaration what the two covenantswere to the niversal %eclaration of 19+,
: a com&lementary documentbrin$in$ bindin$ le$al force to the &rinci&les &re!iously established in the form of a sim&le declaration' Indeed, the
niversal %eclaration of -uman *ights of 19+,
is non6bindin$:it )as a mere
resolution
of the General Assembly of the United Dations'
n 16
th
%ecember 1966
)ere ado&ted the
two international covenants
, theCo!enant on
Civil and Political Rights
, and the Co!enant on
Economic,Social, and Cultural Rights
, to $i!e le$al eect to the declaration' hese t)o- From Portalis Preliminary address on the 1rst draft of the French Ci!il Code #/E./('
It is al)ays &ossible before international courts since a treaty is bindin$ o!er the States Parties' 2e$ardin$ domestic courts, it de&ends on )hether States ha!e a monist or a dualist a&&roach to the international le$al order'
treaties are the le$al trans&osition, )ith bindin$ le$al force, of the Uni!ersaleclaration' he same &rocess could be underta+en on en!ironmental matters' From a le$al&ers&ecti!e, )e ha!e to ta+e en!ironmental ri$hts seriously'
III. A #hird International Covenant( a #hird /eneration of -uman*ights
he ado&tion of such a co!enant )ould com&lete the cor&us of human ri$htsinstruments'J!er the last thirty years,
a third generation
of human
ri$hts has emer$ed'Follo)in$ the reco$nition of ci!il and &olitical ri$hts #1rst $eneration(, economicand social ri$hts #second $eneration(, as referred to in the t)o co!enants of /00, a ne) concern is risin$: the ri$hts and duties of humans on en!ironmentalmatters' he Stoc+holm eclaration and the 2io eclaration ha!e already mar+eda ste& for)ard'An
historical process of incremental enhancement
of human ri$ht is at)or+' By com&arison, in France, he Constitutional Charter for the n!ironment in-..= has com&leted the di&tych constituted by the eclaration of the 2i$hts of Man and of the Citi*en of /E #on ci!il and &olitical ri$hts( and the Preamble of the /=0 Constitution #on economic and social ri$hts(' he third &illar to &rotectfundamental ri$hts in France, the n!ironmental Charter, could be a usefule<am&le for the &rotection of the en!ironment at the international le!el'Donetheless, conclusions of such an e!olution ha!e not been dra)n yet' hecor&us of en!ironmental treaties remains incom&lete: there is no treaty in )hichare enshrined the fundamental &rinci&les of en!ironmental la)'
I0. #he Architecture of the International Covenant for theProtection of the Environment
A treaty of uni!ersal sco&e on en!ironmental matters )ould be the cornerstone of en!ironmental la) &rotection' It )ould lay do)n in a sin$le document all thefoundin$ &rinci&les' he set of s&eci1c con!entions )ould be thus considered as adeclination of these &rinci&les and their a&&lication in s&eci1c matters' 4e coulde!en ima$ine an inter&retati!e clause in the Co!enant for the s&eci1ccon!entions to be inter&reted in line )ith the foundin$ &rinci&les enshrined in theCo!enant'It is not necessary, at this sta$e, to debate o!er its title' For con!enience, )eha!e used the term >Co!enant?, but the te<t could 3ust as )ell be called a>Charter? or a >Con!ention?' he same a&&lies to its content )hich remains to s&ecify and to discuss' 4e )illnonetheless outline the basic structure' he +eystone of the te<t should be the reco$nition of the ri$ht to a healthyen!ironment to )hich e!eryone is entitled' his fundamental ri$ht im&lies theri$ht of citi*ens to hold $o!ernments accountable for their en!ironmental