CISDL

DRAFT II
RELEASED FOR CONSULTATION
April 01, 2002, New YorkSustainable Justice 2002:
Implementing International Sustainable Development Law

INTERNATIONAL JURISTS MANDATE
for the Implementation of International Sustainable Development Law
to be launched for endorsement on May 24, 2002, at Montreal., Canada,
in the context of the 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development

We, justices, legislators, government officials, legal scholars, professionals and representatives of civil society organisations assembled 22-25 May 2002 in Montreal at the International Conference "Sustainable Justice 2002: Implementing International Sustainable Development Law,"

Acknowledging the serious social, economic and environmental challenges facing the peoples of the world,

Concerned with the continuing failure to implement universal human rights, deterioration of the global environment, and increase in the number of people living in absolute poverty;

Recognising that governance for sustainable development is not yet fully coherent, and that international courts, institutions, legal scholars and professionals need practical legal principles and tools to navigate overlapping and sometimes conflicting international human rights, economic and environmental legal obligations.

Recalling foundational and continuing work of other fora ;

Reaffirming Chapter 39 of 1992 Agenda 21, which recognises the need to continue progressive development and codification of international law related to sustainable development, and urges cooperation and coordination in this regard; which also recognises the need to improve the effectiveness of legal institutions, mechanisms and procedures; and to address actual or potential conflicts between environmental and social/economic agreements or instruments;

Reaffirming Section 3 of the 1997 Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, which recognises that economic development, social development and environmental protection are interdependent and mutually reinforcing components of sustainable development; and that economic growth must be guided by equity, justice, and social and environmental considerations;

Recognising the need, in 2002, for a concerted and strengthened agenda to advance the understanding, development and implementation of international sustainable development law at the intersection of environment, economic and social regimes, on mutually agreed terms and with the full participation of those affected;

Supporting the leading efforts of the International Law Association’s Committee on the Legal Aspects of Sustainable Development, in particular the 2002 New Delhi International Law Association Declaration on Principles of International Law relating to Sustainable Development, which calls for the application, consolidation and further development of the following principles:

General principles:

>>	The rules of law in international relations, including international economic relations
>>	The duty to cooperate for global development and protection of the environment
>>	The principle of observance of human rights
>>	The principle of integration

Specific principles of international law in the field of sustainable development

>>	Principle of sovereignty over national resources (and of the sustainable use of natural resources),
>>	Principle of intergenerational equity,
>>	Principle of common but differentiated responsibilities,
>>	The common heritage of humankind,
>>	The precautionary principle,
>>	Principle of public participation and access to information and justice,
>>	The principle of good governance, including democratic accountability

A New Partnership for the Implementation of International Sustainable Development Law:

And further calls upon all partners to advance the understanding, development and implementation of international sustainable development law:

Interdisciplinary Partnerships
Build and strengthen interdisciplinary partnerships for international sustainable development law; and encourage key international economic, social and environmental institutions to collaborate, in cooperation with sustainable development bodies, to address priority sectors and issues.

Innovative Legal Instruments:
Support innovative, integrated international sustainable development law instruments, including treaties, dispute settlement, national and international frameworks which address poverty eradication and sustainable development and contract law, to promote coherence in areas where international economic, environmental or human rights legal obligations can overlap or conflict.

Legal Research and Knowledge Networks:
Develop further legal research and knowledge network programmes related to international sustainable development law through courts, conventions, legal and professional associations, and academic institutions.

Subsidiary Legal Regimes:
Develop and strengthen international law related to sustainable development on the global, regional or sub-regional levels closest to those most affected.

Transparency & Civil Society Participation
Ensure civil society involvement in all relevant aspects of international economic, environmental and human rights law, and particularly in the areas of integration or overlap.

Legal Capacity Building, Expertise and Technical Assistance
Develop and strengthen capacity building programmes, expertise networks and coordinated technical assistance, for more effective negotiation, implementation, enforcement, and governance of international sustainable development law, particularly among developing country lawyers.

Sustainable Development Dispute Settlement
Ensure transparency, access to relevant environmental, social or economic expertise, and civil society participation in deliberations of tribunals, courts and panels in disputes related to sustainable development.

Reporting, Compliance and Enforcement
Design innovative cooperative mechanisms for effective compliance with international sustainable development law, and strengthen monitoring, implementation and enforcement systems.

Legal Measures to Finance Sustainable Development
Ensure that conditions exist to fulfil legal obligations in economic, environmental and human rights law relating to financing and international assistance, leverage mutually agreed sustainable development support from socially responsible corporations, and increase investment in sustainable technologies, projects and systems.

International Sustainable Development Law in 2002
Launch a new research and implementation agenda for international sustainable development law in 2002 by building an integrated social, environmental and economic legal agenda for the WSSD, strengthening political and institutional support, and engaging all relevant actors in the implementation of international sustainable development law.

Best Practices in International Sustainable Development Law and Policy:

We further call upon states, intergovernmental organisations, legal associations, academics, courts and legal professionals, to test, share and where appropriate further develop integrated sustainable development law and policy instruments, including:

>>	Use of civil, political, economic, social and cultural human rights mechanisms for poverty eradication and environmental protection (as carried out in the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in General Comment No.14 (Right to Health) and the Statement on Poverty and the 1976 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).
>>	International consultation and complaints procedures for citizen and civil society groups, which result in investigation, monitoring and factual reports, even potential financial penalties, in alleged instances of non-compliance with social, economic or environmental law (as established by the 1994 North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation).
>>	Sustainable development impact assessment techniques, including integrated analysis of economic, social or environmental policies, programmes and projects (as carried out by the European Union for the proposed ‘millennium round’ of global trade liberalization negotiations),
>>	Domestic legal mechanisms to ensure corporate social and environmental accountability, including enforcement of foreign direct liability and civil responsibility claims (as proposed by the United Kingdom House of Lords in the Lubbe and Others v. Cape Plc. (2000) case, and in recent claims under the United States Alien Tort Claims Act)
>>	Provisions in national constitutions which directly incorporate sustainable development, encouraging the mainstreaming of sustainable development practice in judicial decision-making by the highest courts (as established in the national constitution of Bolivia, among other countries).
>>	Advanced informed consent and prior informed consent regimes (as established by the 2002 Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety of the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity and other instruments).
>>	Benefit-sharing provisions for sustainable natural resource use contracts (as established by the 1992 UN Convention on Biological Diversity committee on access to benefits)
>>	Debt sustainability analysis mechanisms linked to poverty eradication and environmental protection (Millennium Declaration) as mentioned in the 2002 Monterrey Consensus document of the 2002 UN Conference on Financing for Development.
>>	Mechanisms to ensure appropriate harmonisation of standards (as established in the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s 1999 Water and Health Protocol to ensure drinking water supply in adequate quantity and quality, prevention and control of water borne diseases).
>>	Mutually agreed trade and liability measures for environmental and social purposes with private sector involvement and responsibility (as provided by the 2002 Rotterdam Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants to ensure environmentally sound trade in hazardous chemicals and pesticides, or the 2000 Protocol on Liability and Compensation of the Basel Convention).
>>	National and international legal guarantees for access to information and full public participation, and access to justice (as developed in the 1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice).
>>	Inspection panel mechanisms for communities to be heard concerning projects which might affect them (as practiced by the World Bank).
>>	Provisions to facilitate the submission of amicus curiae briefs by interested groups in economic dispute settlement procedures (as attempted by the World Trade Organisation Appellate Body in the EU-Asbestos dispute).

This document is a draft, to be circulated for consultation, the identification of further best practices, and eventual approval by the plenary of the international conference in Montreal, May 22-25, 2002- Sustainable Justice 2002: Implementing International Sustainable Development Law, hosted by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the World Bank, in partnership with the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.*

We would greatly appreciate your input. Please send comments and proposed text changes to the centre for international sustainable development law (conferences@cisdl.org) or directly to the directors, Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (mcsegger@cisdl.org) and Ashfaq Khalfan (akhalfan@cisdl.org).