Principle of Good Neighbourliness in International Environmental Law.

6.4: Environmental Laws- I.

Submitted by:

Sarthak Bharsakale

UID No.: UG16-40

2018-19 (Semester – VI)

Submitted to:

Ms. Shreya Mishra, (Assistant Professor of Law.)

Ms. Charvi Kumar, Research Associate.

MAHARASHTRA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NAGPUR

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION. .................................................................................................................................. 1

GENERAL ASSEMBL Y RESOLUTION 2625 : FRIENDLY RELATIONS AND COOPERATION

................................................................................................................................................................. 2

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD NEIGHBORLINESS AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION ............ 3

GOOD NEIGHBOURLINESS. .............................................................................................................. 3

GOOD NEIGHBOURLINESS AND ENVIRONMENT LAW ............................................................. 6

NEIGHBOURLINESS IN ASPECTS RELATED TO ENVIRONMENT............................................. 7

WILDLIFE AND BIODIVERSITY................................................................................................................. 7

WATERBODIES AND THEIR CONSERVATION. ........................................................................................... 8

IMPLEMENTATION OF PRINCIPLES OF GOOD NEIGHBORLINESS FOLLOWING THE RIO

EARTH SUMMIT................................................................................................................................. 10

CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................................................... 10

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INTRODUCTION.

Good neighbourliness is the essential starting point of international relations and one of the key
considerations behind the very idea of international law.1 As the preamble of the UN charter
itself lays emphasis upon the importance of good neighbours in international law. Evident from
its preamble which runs as follows:-

"WE, THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS, Determined”to establish conditions under
which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of
international law can be maintained. And For These Ends to practice tolerance and live
together in peace with one another as good neighbors... " 2

All the peoples of the United Nations, including each of us, that are construed to be part and
parcel of the global community, solemnly adhere ourselves to our determination to "practice
tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors". Many years have
elapsed since then. But the proclamation still stands clear and unequivocal in its determination
and zeal. The determination was resolute, but the practice is still falls short of its conceived
implementation. Tolerance as a practice, takes time to form and depends on wider appreciation
and dissemination of principles of Public International Law. We, the nations of the world, have
barely begun the learning process of how to live in peace with one another as good neighbours.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In order to approach the prescribed objectives of study, the research has been done according
to both Doctrinal and Non doctrinal model of research methodology and intensive research
papers have been referred. The Non doctrinal work adopted for the writing of research work is
both analytical and descriptive. Opinions of research scholars, academicians, and other experts
including the various research institutes who have dealt with this subject will be use as real
contribution to research. E-resources have majorly contributed in research for getting the most

1. D. Kochenov & E. Basheska. Good Neighborliness inside and outside the Union, University of Groningen
Faculty of Law Research Paper Series No.14/2015.
2. Declaration on Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation Among
States in Accordance with the UN Charter, UNGA Res 2625 (XXV) (24 October 1970) (Declaration on
Friendly Relations). .
3. 25 GAOR, Supp. (No. 28) 121; reprinted in 9 ILM 1292 (1970), adopted without a vote on October 24,
1970.

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relevant and latest information on the web which has helped the researcher to explore the
subject through various dimensions.

GENERAL ASSEMBL Y RESOLUTION 2625 : FRIENDLY RELATIONS

AND COOPERATION

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General Assembly Resolution 2625 (XXV) adopted by acclamation in 1970, entitled the
Declaration of the Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and
Cooperation among States under the Charter of the United Nations. Seven basic principles were
proclaimed as cornerstones of international law.

These principles are today regarded as declaratory of the then existing fundamental principles
of international law, enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and endorsed by the
practice of States.

In its preambles, Resolution 2625 recalls, inter alia, that "the peoples of the United Nations
are determined to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good
neighbors... "

The seven principles embodied in this resolution reflect the contemporary practice of States
under study and examination by the working group set up by the General Assembly since 1962.

The principles of friendly relations and cooperation may be stated in terms of the duties
incumbent upon every State, as follows :

1. The duty to refrain in its international relations from the threat or use of force against
the territorial integrity or political independence of a,ny State, or in any other manner
inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations;
2. The duty to settle international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that
international peace, security and justice are not endangered;
3. The duty not to intervene in matters within the domestic jurisdiction of any State, in
accordance with the Charter;
4. The duty to respect the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples;
5. The duty to respect the principle of sovereign equality of States; and

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 6. The duty to fulfil in good faith the obligations assumed by it in accordance with the
Charter.4

PRINCIPLES OF GOOD NEIGHBORLINESS AND INTERNATIONAL

COOPERATION

The principle of good neighborliness places on states a responsibility not to damage the
environment. The principle of international cooperation places an obligation on states to
prohibit activities within the state's territory that are contrary to the rights of other states and
which could harm other states or their inhabitants. 5 This is considered to be an application of
the maxim sic utere tuo, et alienum non laedas. 6 he principle of good neighborliness is closely
related to the duty to cooperate in investigating, identifying, and avoiding environmental harm.
Most international environmental treaties have provisions requiring cooperation in the
generation and exchange of scientific, technical, socioeconomic, and commercial information.
7
This obligation to cooperate is not absolute. Instead, it is limited by municipal conditions such
as the protection of patents. 8

GOOD NEIGHBOURLINESS.

This principle has been recognized as one of the important general principles governing
friendly relations among States. The idea of two or more States showing reciprocity by means

4. Supra Note 2.
5. International cooperation was dictated by the International Court of Justice in Corfu Channel (U.K. v.
AIb.), 1949 I.C.J. (April 22).
6. The maxim was invoked as a rule by Hungary in the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Project (Hung. V. Slovk.),
1992 I.C.J. 32. Hungary supported its submission in Corfu Channel; Stockholm Declaration, supra note 9;
Rio Declaration, supra note 7, and the INTERNATIONAL LAW COMMISSION DRAFT ARTICLES ON
STATE RESPONSIBILITY (1990).
7. 21. See Law of the Sea, supra note 12, at art. 200; U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity, supra note 6, at
art. 17; Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, Mar.
17, 1992, art. 8, 31 I.L.M. 1312; Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer, Mar. 22, 1985, art. 4, 26
I.L.M 1517 [hereinafter Ozone Protection Convention].
8. See Ozone Protection Convention, supra note 21, at art. 4; 26 I.L.M. at 1530-32; Law of the Sea, supra note
12, at Art. 17.
9. Lake Lac Lanoux Arbitration, (France v. Spain) (1957) 12 R.I.A.A. 281. P.119

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of peaceful behaviour and mutual inter-dependence is at the core of this principle. In this way
the principle is imilar to sic utere tuo, which calls for ensuring that effects of harmful activities
are not transferred to your neighbour. Good neighbourliness apart from preventing the causing
of harm also obliges a State to protect its own territory out of self-interest.

Article 74 of the Charter of the United Nations provides that "States... conduct themselves
according to ... the general principles of good neighbourliness, due account should be taken of
the interests and well-being of rest of the world in social, economic and commercial matters”.

The principle of good neighbourliness is applied for the equitable utilization of watercourses
between river basin States. Article 4 of the Helsinki rules provides that: “Each Basin State
is entitled, within its territory, to a reasonable and equitable share in such uses.” In the, Lac
Lanoux arbitration9, between France and Spain applied the principle of good neighbourliness
for resolving its disputes. The case involved a proposal by France to construct a dam on the
River Carol with a view to increase the capacity of the Lake Lanoux for hydroelectric power
generation.10 Spain objected claiming that the construction of the dam would jeopardize its
interest in irrigation. The principle essentially has an interpretative value and has been
recognized by scholars as having a fundamental role in international law. On a larger plane
especially with respect to global commons or open spaces, inter se States can argue for an
“ecological good neighbourliness policy” to create erga omnes obligations. Though a right to
a clean and healthy environment is guaranteed under all municipal legislation, it was the
Declaration of the 1972 that Stockholm Conference that stated “ Man has the fundamental right
to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of quality which
permits life of dignity and well-being...”. Thereafter the Rio Declaration, which was adopted
at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), again
reiterated, “Human beings are at the center of concerns for sustainable development. They are
entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature”. Since 1992, the development
of international environmental law has undergone a dramatic normative and paradigmatic shift
from anthropo- centrism to environmentalism proper. Every instrument-adopted post-Rio has
as emphasis on preservation of the environment, for the sake of environment alone. While such
ethical arguments mean little to the larger needs of the developing world, it is true that an inter-

10. Boute, Anatole, The Good Neighbourliness Principle in EU External Energy Relations: The Case of Energy
Transit (September 30, 2014).
11. Documents A/36/376 and Add. 1 and A/38/448 submitted by Romania

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temporal value and jurisprudential basis is being offered for protection of the environment for
present and future generations.

Principles of international law concerning good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation

among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations have not acquired the same
advanced status as those of friendly relations and cooperation, although conceived in the same
vintage of international instruments. In the light of current developments in technology and
ecological science, principles of good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation await further
elaboration by the United Nations. The contents of good-neighborliness have not been fully
explored. The task of identifying and clarifying basic elements of good neighborliness have
only recently begun thanks to the initiative taken by Romania in 1981. By December 1988, the
General Assembly of the United Nations took note of the report of the Sub-Committee on
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Good-Neighborliness set up by the Sixth Committee during the forty-third session and
decided to return to the item somewhat less than enthusiastically by the forty-fifth session.12

On the other hand, part B. of Resolution 43/171 was better received with 124 votes for, 8
against and 22 abstentions.13 Part B. in fact contains more substance in its operative
paragraphs, which reads :

1.Reaffirms that good-neighborliness fully conforms with the purposes of the United Nations
and shall be founded upon the strict observance of the principles of the United Nations as
embodied in the Charter and in the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning
Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the
United

Nations, and so presupposes the rejection of any acts seeking to establish zones of influence or
domination;

12. Concepts and Principles of International Environmental Law: An Introduction, UNEP 1994, 2,15-33
13. J. Schneider, World Public Order of the Environment: Towards an International Ecological Law and
Organization, 1979, 161 et seq.
14. Ph. Sands, "The Environment, Community and International Law", Harv. Int'l L.J. 30 (1989), 393 et seq.,
(417).
15. Report of a Consultation on Sustainable Development: The Challenge to Law, RECIEL 2 (1993), r 1.

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2. Calls once again upon States, in the interest of the maintenance of international peace and
security, to develop good-neighborliness, acting on the basis of these principles;

3. Reaffirms that the generalization of the long practice of good- neighborliness and of
principles and rules pertaining to it is likely to strengthen friendly relations and cooperation
among States in accordance with the Charter. "14

Although the General Assembly decided to continue and to complete the task of identifying
and clarifying the elements of good-neighborliness within the framework of a sub- committee
on good-neighborliness by 1990, 15 the United Nations were so overshadowed by other more
pressing matters such as the annexation of Kuwait by Iraq and its aftermath and subsequently
the armed conflicts and political upheaval in former Yugoslavia, that nothing concrete resulted
from the Romanian initiative as earlier actively supported by Yugoslavia. One principle clearly
survived the discussions that took place in the Sixth Committee, and that is the clear and
unequivocal rejection by States of any acts seeking to establish zones of influence or
domination, or what has been previously proposed as the principle of anti-hegemony or anti-
hegemonism.

Good Neighbourliness and Environment Law

The fundamental rule in international law that states are prohibited from using or threatening
force against another state is also the basis for the rule that a state must not allow its territory
to be used for acts that could compromise the territorial integrity or political independence of
another state. What lies behind these rules is the principle of good neighbourliness which has
also assumed significant importance in environmental law. Consequently, it is now an
established principle of customary international law and a cornerstone of international
environmental law that states have, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the
principles of international law, the sovereign right to exploit their own natural resources
pursuant to their own environmental policies. The principle of good neighborliness further
requires preventive measures to be taken by a state when necessary to avoid activities which
take place in its territory or under its control or jurisdiction and which may cause significant
damage to the environment of another state or to areas beyond its jurisdiction. In both the

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Nuclear Weapons case16 and the Pulp Mills case17 the International Court of Justice has
affirmed the customary law status of the principle of prevention. The maintenance of peaceful
relations amongst its members represents a key objective of every political community, and is
reflected internationally in, inter alia, the principle of good neighbourliness, referred to in Article
74 of the UN Charter. 18

Neighbourliness in Aspects related to environment.

Wildlife and Biodiversity.

Neighbourliness can scarcely be pursued in isolation, and Principle 7 of the Rio Declaration duly
requires states to ‘co-operate in a spirit of global partnership to conserve, protect and restore the
health and integrity of the Earth’s ecosystem’. 19 Similarly, Article 5 of the Biodiversity Convention
requires co-operation ‘in respect of areas beyond national jurisdiction and on other matters of
mutual interest, for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity’. Comparable
provisions occur in other wildlife treaties.20Duties of co-operation also appear in more specific
guises, such as the obligation to ‘provide prior and timely notification and relevant information
to potentially affected States on activities that may have a significant adverse transboundary
effect and consult with those States at an early stage and in good faith.21

16. ICJ GL No 95 (Official Case No) [1996] ICJ Rep 226

17. ICJ GL No 135 (Official Case No) [2006] ICJ Rep 113.
18. Bowman, M., Davies, P., & Redgwell, C. (2010). Lyster's International Wildlife Law. Cambridge
19. Rio Declaration, Principle 15. See further A. Trouwborst, Evolution and Status of the Precautionary Principle
in International Law (Kluwer, 2002); R. Cooney and B. Dickson (eds.), Biodiversity and the Precautionary
Principle (Earthscan, 2005).
20. Ramsar, Article 5; CMS, Articles 2(1), 4 and 5; Bern Convention, Articles 1(1), 4(4), 10(1) and 11(1).
21. Rio Declaration, Principle 19.
22. In the context of transboundary water resources, see, for example, Article 16 of the 1992 Convention on the
Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes, (1992) 31 ILM 1312, which
requires that all ‘Riparian Parties’ make available to the public the following information: Water-quality
objectives; Permits issued and conditions required to be met; Results of water and effluent sampling carried
out for the purposes of monitoring and assessment, as well as results of checking compliance with the water
quality objectives or the permit conditions.

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Waterbodies and their conservation.

Such obligations are long-established in relation to the use of international watercourses, and
have progressively been recognised in other areas.22 Generally, procedural obligations provide
a framework for the early and amicable resolution of environmental disputes by ensuring that
interested parties are adequately informed of proposed projects and their potential
environmental implications, by providing a form of procedural due process for the participation
of interested parties, including, where appropriate, the citizens of the State of origin and the
citizens of potentially affected States,23 and by providing an opportunity for compromise to be
reached, involving, for example, alteration of the original proposal or the inclusion of remedial
measures to mitigate any likely adverse environmental effects. Though many commentators
would, quite correctly, count the device of transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) among such legal procedures, the author takes the view that it is so intrinsically linked
to the discharge and implementation of several core substantive obligations and principles of
international environmental law, including the obligation to prevent transboundary harm and
the precautionary principle, that it is more apt to examine EIA alongside such substantive rules.
However, this is not to deny the central role of EIA in ensuring that States likely to be affected
by an activity are appropriately informed of its potential impacts and in facilitating meaningful
consultation and negotiation between proposing and opposing States The existence of a general
customary obligation on States to co-operate in respect the development and utilisation of
international watercourses was suggested in the Lac Lanoux Arbitration24 where it was stated
that:

23. The CBD, Article 18; Antarctic Environmental Protocol, Article 10; Ramsar, Article 4(2), CMS, Article
2(3)(a).

24. Article 6, 1989 Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their
Disposal (1989) 28 ILM 657; Article 4, 1992 Convention on the Transboundary Effects of Industrial Accidents
(1992) 31 ILM 1330.

25. Rio Declaration, Principle 18. See also, e.g., the 1986 Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident
(1986) 25 ILM 1370..

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“ States are today perfectly conscious of the importance of the conflicting interests brought into
play by the industrial use of international rivers, and of the necessity to reconcile them by
mutual concessions. The only way to arrive at such compromises of interests is to conclude
agreements on an increasingly comprehensive basis … There would thus appear to be an
obligation to accept in good faith all communications and contacts which could, by a broad
comparison of interests and by reciprocal good will, provide States with the best conditions for
concluding agreements”25The International Court of Justice emphasised the necessity of co-
26
operation among watercourse States in the recent Gabčíkovo-Nagymaros case stating, for
example, that ‘Only by international cooperation could action be taken to alleviate … problems
of navigation, flood control, and environmental protection.27 However, members of the
International Law Commission, in the course of their discussions on the subject of international
watercourses, differed on whether the need for States to co-operate was a mere aspiration or a
binding legal duty.
However, despite the misgivings of some of its members about the precise legal nature and
status of the obligation to co-operate, the International Law Commission eventually decided to
include an express reference to this duty in its 1994 Draft Articles. This reference formed the
basis of Article 8 of the 1997 UN Watercourses Convention,28 which recognises the practical
importance of the duty to co-operate for the attainment of the twin goals of optimal utilisation
and adequate protection of an international watercourse. Article 8 also stresses the role of joint
mechanisms or commissions in facilitating such co-operation. The Convention includes further
detailed requirements which give practical effect to the rather vague obligation to co-operate,
including the obligations to notify, consult and negotiate, exchange information, and participate
in dispute settlement procedures

26. C. B. Bourne, ‘Procedure in the Development of International Drainage Basins: The Duty to Consult
and to Negotiate’, (1972) Annuaire Canadien de Droit International 219

27. CJ GL No 92 (Official Case No) [1997] ICJ Rep 7

28. A. E. Boyle, ‘State Responsibility and International Liability for Injurious Consequences of Acts Not
Prohibited by International Law’ (1990) 39 International and Comparative Law Quarterly 1, at 14-15

29. Herheyen, R., (2005) Climate Change Damage and International Law: Prevention Duties and State
Responsibility. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.

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IMPLEMENTATION OF PRINCIPLES OF GOOD NEIGHBORLINESS
FOLLOWING THE RIO EARTH SUMMIT

In another closely related context of the concept of shared resources, the principles of good-
neighborliness as propounded herein have been countenanced and embraced in recent
endeavours on the part of the world community to make this earth a better place for all human
beings to share not only among themselves but also with all other living things, including the
living and non-living resources of the sea, the soil and the atmosphere. Duties of notification
become particularly urgent in cases of environmental emergency, which is the subject of
separate provision in the Rio Declaration and elsewhere.29 Without entering more deeply into
the field of international environmental law, it is appropriate to add that in all future attempts
and undertakings to improve the environment still further on the basis of sustainable
development, good-neighborliness will have an active and useful role to play. On a broader
front, there is considerable inherent virtue in the pooling of environmental information and
expertise, the development of co-operative research programmes and the fostering of best
practice, and provision is now routinely made for the cultivation of such co-operation.30

CONCLUSION

A keen awareness felt by Asian African nations and shared by their Latin-American neighbors
that the principles embodied in the 1955 Bandung Declaration initially began to respond to the
need to provide a firm basis on which to generate and formulate norms of international law to
give effect to the ever pressing necessity for principles to guide the conduct of States in their
existence together as good and friendly neighbors. Subsequent endeavours within the United
Nations have added further substance and clarifications to existing principles as endorsed by
the contemporary practice of States, much remains to be done by way of further and deeper
investigation into the theory and practice of what we perceive to be an acceptable international
standard for the conduct befitting the concept of GOOD NEIGHBORS in the widest sense of
the term. In essence the obligation of a state to take preventive action is one of due diligence
against which the conduct of the state in question must be examined.

30. World Commission on Environment and Development, Our Common Future (The Bruntland Report)
(OUP, 1987), at 43.

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At the national level this will involve an enquiry about the appropriateness and effectiveness
of the state’s legal, governance and administrative system to achieve the necessary objectives,
while at the international level it is a question about the state’s compliance with its obligation
to cooperate with other states in good faith, which is universally recognized as one of the basic
principles governing the creation and performance of all legal obligations in international
law.31 In the environmental law field, this obligation has often been applied in relation to the
exchange of information, notification, consultation and monitoring when activities over which
states exercise control involve a significant risk of environmental harm.32

31. X. Fuentes, ‘International Law-Making in the Field of Sustainable Development: the Unequal
Competition between Development and the Environment’, (2002) 2 International Environmental
Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics 109, at 109.

32. Hendrik A. Strydom, The Legal Principles Relatin To Climate Change, University of Johannesburg,
South Africa.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY.
Books Referred.
1. Phillip Sands, Principles of International Environmental Law, 4th Ed. Cambridge
University Press
2. Michael Bowman, Lyster’s International Wildlife Law, 2nd Ed. Cambridge University
Press.
3. Graham Bennett, Conserving Europe’s Natural Heritage : Towards a European
Ecological Network, 1994 Ed. Sringer.
4. Alexander Zahar, Climate Change Finance and international Law, 1st ed. 2018
Routledge.

Articles Referred
1. International Law-Making in the Field of Sustainable Development: the Unequal
Competition between Development and the Environment, X. Fuentes
2. Herheyen, R., (2005) Climate Change Damage and International Law: Prevention
Duties and State Responsibility. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff.

3. J. Schneider, World Public Order of the Environment: Towards an International

Ecological Law and Organization

4. Good Neighborliness inside and outside the Union, University of Groningen , D.

Kochenov & E. Basheska.

E- Resources and Websites.

1. United Nations Environment Programme, www.unep.org
2. Cambridge Online, https://cambridgeonline.org.uk/
3. Hein Online, https://home.heinonline.org/

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