CISDL

Acknowledgment

The CISDL wishes to acknowledge and express its appreciation to the following students who are contributing to its efforts in translating its website in French and Spanish.

Alysse Bleser, University of Sherbrooke

Anna Chrzaszcz, University of Montreal

Audrey Préfontaine, University of Sherbrooke

Carine Trazie, McGill University

Cedric Soule, McGill University

Christina Birks, McGill University

Daniel Atudorei, University of Sherbrooke

François Côté, University of Sherbrooke

Guillaume-Pierre Michaud, University of Sherbrooke

Guy Nephtali, University of Sherbrooke

Jacques-B.Roberge, University of Sherbrooke

Jeannine Tchakmakian, University of Montreal

Jean-Simon Paradis, University of Sherbrooke

Marlène Charron-Geadah, McGill University

Mathieu Morasse, University of Sherbrooke

Miriam Desmarais, University of Sherbrooke

Oshriyeh Roucha, University of Sherbrooke

Roberto Buso, University of Vermont,

Saadia Benmakhlouf, University of Sherbrooke

Sara Jason, University of Sherbrooke

Wildaliz De Jesús, University of Vermont

Bernard Larose, Université de Sherbrooke.

The CISDL also sends its gratitudes to its members Sébastien Jodoin and Gustavo Giménez Comas for their much appreciated participation.


	NEWS ARCHIVE: 2006
	Jean Monnet Academic Seminar: Trade, Assessment and Sustainable Development in the European Union 10:00-12:00 Saturday, 18 November 2006, in the Ulmey Lounge, Robinson College, University of Cambridge. In cooperation with the Centre of International Studies and the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law This Academic Seminar, structured as a public experts panel event and an academic workshop, will discuss the rules and politics of recent impact assessments of trade negotiations, and how these tools can better support sustainable development through changes in process. Discussion will focus on current experience with Sustainability Impact Assessments (SIAs) in the European Union and beyond. The EU SIA of the WTO Doha Round and other assessment innovations will be analysed. What is the potential of the EU's SIA model? How can it be used to support international information exchange? What are the changes these assessments might provide for future trade policy making in the Union and in the World Trade Organisation? Environmental and sustainable development assessment processes are not alien to international trade law. The 2001 Doha Development Agenda encourages WTO Members to undertake national EIAs (Environmental Impact Assessments) on a voluntary basis and to share their expertise and experience. In recent years, several legal and policy mechanisms have been developed at the national, regional and (more nebulously) international levels to assess environmental and sustainable development impacts of trade negotiations. The EU's SIA is a prime example and this seminar provides an opportunity to debate legal, political and economic effects of the ex-ante assessment of trade policy proposals. What are the practical implications, how have results been used and influenced negotiation positions, especially of the European Union? Could SIA instruments be exported as a legal tool to enhance sustainable development? What changes would be necessary? How could the instrument be adapted for a 'low-impact' SIA of better use for developing countries? Can SIAs really enhance greater public participation and if not, how could they be improved? Finally what is the potential for further multilateral progress and innovation through SIAs? First, is there potential for strengthened institutional interaction on sustainable development in the WTO? Second, is there potential for greater public participation, for strengthening avenues of consultation and information sharing at the national and international levels? Third, could multilateral assessment present an opportunity to further institutionalise the inclusion of international stakeholders, with particular emphasis on developing country actors, for more successfully development oriented trade law and policy? These issues, and more, will be discussed in an Academic Seminar on Saturday, November 18, to which all actors are invited. Saturday, Nov 18 2006 Draft Programme 10:00 - 12:00 Jean Monnet Experts Panel Event: European Trade Impact Assessments- A Tool for Sustainable Development? Chair: Dr. Amrita Narlikar, Centre of International Studies Speakers: • Dr. Markus Gehring, Centre of International Studies • Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Natural Resources Canada & CISDL • Vice Yu, South Centre • Dr. Clive George, University of Manchester 12:00 - 14:00 Luncheon for all Seminar participants 14:00 - 18:00 Jean Monnet Academic Workshop: Ways Forward for the European Sustainability Impact Assessment Instruments Addressing the Needs of Developing Countries and the Global Trading System Session 1 (14:00 - 15:30) Elements of a 'Low-Impact' Impact Assessment Policy Instrument Session 2 (16:00 - 17:30) Internationalising Sustainability Impact Assessment of Economic Law and Policy For further information and to participate, please contact Dr Markus W Gehring, mwg24@cam.ac.uk.
	United Nations Climate Change Conference – Nairobi 2006 6 - 17 November 2006 United Nations Office at Nairobi, Gigiri Kenya is hosting the second meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 2), in conjunction with the twelfth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Climate Change Convention (COP 12), in Nairobi from 6 to 17 November 2006. During which, the CISDL will be hosting the following events: Sustainable Development Law on Climate Change A CISDL-ILA-IDLO Sustainable Development Law Training Course Tuesday, November 14th, 14:00-15:00, Bamboo Exchange (World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF)) Instructors: Dr. Charlotte Streck, CISDL Fellow & Director, Climate Focus Mr. Sébastien Jodoin, CISDL Fellow This learning course will feature draft materials prepared for a forthcoming legal capacity building manual “Sustainable Development Law on Climate Change.” Sustainable Development Law on Climate Change: Emerging Legal Regimes & Mechanisms An International Experts Panel Side-Event Wednesday, November 15th, 11:15-12:45, European Union Pavilion, Room 1** Key-note speaker: Hon. Claude Béchard, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment & Parks, Government of Québec (Canada) Chair: Mr. Sébastien Jodoin, CISDL Fellow Speakers: Dr. Charlotte Streck, CISDL Fellow & Director, Climate Focus (The Netherlands) Mr. Paul Curnow, Senior Associate, Baker & Mackenzie (Australia) Mr. Clay Fox-Clarke, Climate Change Lawyer (United States) This event will feature the international release of the Quebec Climate Change Action Plan 2006-2012 and the report and outcomes from the successful international symposium “Strengthening Climate Cooperation, Compliance & Coherence” held in Montreal in December 2005.
	During the last week of October the Faculty of Law at the University of Chile in Santiago de Chile hosted a special series of lectures on International Sustainable Development Law by CISDL Director, Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, who recently completed a special tour in Chile. Description of Conferences Third National Environmental Law Days, 25, 26 and 27 of October, 2006. Details of the Lectures Presented: Thursday 26, 10:50 -11:20 CONFERENCIA MAGISTRAL JORNADAS Title of the lecture: "Local Law for the Global Commons: New Challenges in National Sustainable Development Law and Governance" Content of the lecture: This lecture discusses innovative national rules and institutional mechanisms that seek to balance between economic and environmental priorities, for sustainable development of transboundary and global natural resources. It focuses on new mechanisms that reflect principles of sustainable development law in national laws and regimes governing natural resources such as fisheries, forests and mining. These principles include integration; sustainable use of natural resources; equity and poverty eradication; precaution; common but differentiated responsibility; public participation; and good governance. Thursday 26, 18:30 – 19:30 CONFERENCIA PARA MAGISTER DE DERECHO AMBIENTAL (Conference for Master’s in Environmental Law) Title of the lecture: "Sustainable Globalization? Challenges for Local Law and Policy". Content of the lecture: Director Cordonier Segger analyses emerging local legal and policy responses to the globalization of economic, human rights and environmental law and policy. She focuses on recent sustainable development challenges, and discusses the design and implementation of new governance instruments to ensure coherence between national economic, human rights and environmental law and policy. Friday 27, 15:00 16:30: INSTITUTO DE ESTUDIOS INTERNACIONALES (Institute for International studies) Title of the lecture: “Reconciling Economic, Environmental and Human Rights Rules: Sustainable Developments in International Law” Content of the lecture: This lecture discusses how emerging international rules and regimes to promote trade and investment liberalization can be reconciled with new and existing social and environmental rights and obligations. It focuses on recent trade treaties that have been negotiated in the Americas, and analyses new international procedural and substantive measures which could promote the reconciliation of economic, environmental and human rights regimes for sustainable development. CISDL Director Marie-Claire Cordonier-Segger also did interviews with the Chilean media (EcoAmerica and Revista Induambiente ) and held meetings with potential partners for future initiatives. Further details can be found at the University of Chile’s Centre for Environmental Law A special acknowledgement goes out to Associate Fellow Kristin Price and Lead Research Fellow Sebastien Jodoin, for their excellent research assistance in preparing for the guest lectures, and Prof. Valentina Duran at the University of Chile, who hosted the visit.
	Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice (CIAJ) ANNUAL CONFERENCE Sustainable Development and the Law People - Environment - Culture October 11 – 13, 2006 Vancouver, Canada The theme of the 2006 CIAJ Annual Conference is “Sustainable Development and the Law – People – Environment – Culture”. There is a growing awareness that more effective measures are needed to ensure a sustainable society, including protection of the environment, citizens and the social and cultural differences that make Canada unique. Sustainable development, however, requires complex and sometimes difficult choices about the allocation of rights. The Honorable Charles D. Gonthier. Chair of the Board of Governors for the CISDL and former Puisne Judge for the Supreme Court of Canada, will be the Honorary Chair of the event. On Thursday evening, the CISDL will co-host the opening reception, during which will take place the Western Canada book launch for its most recent publications. Amongst the various expert panels, the CISDL will be hosting Sustainability and International Trade. CISDL director Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger will chair the panel and the speakers will be Dr. Markus W. Gehring, Lecturer, Cambridge University, Cambridge & Lead Counsel, Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), Montreal, QC, Ms. Valerie Hughes, Partner, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP and former Director, WTO Appellate Body Secretariat, Ottawa, ON. and Dr. Kishan Khoday, Assistant Resident Representative & Team Leader for Energy & Environment, UN Development Programme (UNDP), China, and Legal Research Fellow, Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), Montreal, QC. Professor Andrew Newcombe, CISDL legal research fellow, will also be speaking and presenting his recent work at the panel Sustainability and International Investment. For more information on the conference

	“The World Is Here” International Law Association 2006 Toronto Biennial Conference INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS PANEL EVENT International Law on Sustainable Development: Emerging Principles and Instruments June 06 / 9am – 1pm / Royal York Hotel, Toronto The 2002 World Summit for Sustainable Development identified over 300 treaties and myriad international institutions to implement sustainable development. How have emerging principles on sustainable development been used in international courts and tribunals, and in human rights, environmental and economic treaty instruments? How have these principles been enshrined in recent treaties, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention on Biodiversity, and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification? What are the most effective and innovative legal rules and mechanisms, and what more is needed? Panellists will discuss innovations in international legal instruments for sustainable development and implementing international law and policy on sustainable development. Chairs: H.E. Judge CG Weeramantry, Weeramantry International Centre for Peace Education Research & Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, CISDL & Lauterpacht Research Centre for International Law, Cambridge University; Panel One: Innovations in International Legal Instruments for Sustainable Development Chair: Prof Nico Schrijver, Leiden University Speakers: Prof Susana Carmargo Vieira, Faculdade Max Planck; Prof Jorge Cabrera, University of Costa Rica; Prof Markus Gehring, Cambridge University and Prof Andrew Newcombe, University of Victoria; Panel Two: Implementing International Law and Policy on Sustainable Development Chair: Dr Kamal Hossain, International Law Association Speakers: Hon. Judge CD Gonthier, McGill University & CISDL; Dr Bakary Kante, United Nations Environment Programme; Dr Pia Rodriguez, International Development Law Organization; and Dr. Hossein Moeini, United Nations ETB/Division for Sustainable Development. Sponsored by Robert Knutson Conference Website * invited but not confirmed.
	Launching of the CISDL / NJI On-line Course for Judges McGill Faculty Club, Montreal Dec 02, 2005 The National Judicial Institute of Canada (NJI) and the CISDL have partnered to design and develop a new computer-taught course for judges on Sustainable Development Law, which features a hypothetical case related to national and international law on climate change. This course was launched at the Special Guests Reception at the McGill University Faculty Club on December 2nd, in parallel to the “Strengthening Climate Cooperation, Compliance & Coherence” Symposium. The CISDL expresses its deep gratitude to the NJI for co-sponsoring the Special Guests Reception on the occasion of the Symposium, which also launched a new book on the legal aspects of climate change.
	European Commission Conference on Sustainability Impact Assessment EU TRADE SIA Stocktaking Conference Date: 21-22 March 2006 Venue: Brussels, Charlemagne Building CISDL Legal Research Fellow and Biodiversity/Biosafety Expert, Chrstine Frison, will be hosting “A Role for Regulatory Impact Assessment in SIAs?” on March 22nd. She presenting a paper co-authored by herself, Dr. Markus Gehring (CISDL Lead Counsel), Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger (CISDL Director), and Dr. Maria Leichner (CISDL Lead Counsel, and Executive Director of Fundacion Ecos). For more Information
	Special Book Launch Reception for Sustainable Development in World Trade Law (The Hague: Kluwer Law International, 2005) Dec 14, 2005 / Two International Finance Centre, Hong Kong, China The CISDL is extremely pleased to announce the publication of ‘Sustainable Development in World Trade Law’, by Markus W. Gehring and Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, eds. Kluwer Law International 2005, as part of the Kluwer Global Trade and Finance Series, at a special Book Launch Reception held on the occasion of the World Trade Organization’s Sixth Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. The reception was attended by more than one hundred international trade, environment and development law experts and guests from the Conference and from Hong Kong, including the President of the Hong Kong National Council for Sustainable Development, the Director General for Environment, Energy and Sustainable Development of Foreign Affairs Canada, and the Dean of the Hong Kong University Faculty of Law.The new volume, ‘Sustainable Development in World Trade Law’, focuses on ways that international trade law could deliver on its objective of sustainable development. In Johannesburg at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, over one hundred and eighty states assumed a collective responsibility to advance and strengthen the interdependent and mutually reinforcing pillars of sustainable development economic development, social development, an environmental protection at the local, national, regional and global levels. This remarkable collection of papers, sponsored by the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law (CISDL), demonstrates that sustainable development serves as a unifying concept with the potential to facilitate much-needed respect for international law and timely implementation of diverse and overlapping international commitments. It builds on the substance of a rich and complex debate at the intersections among economic, social, and environmental law, bringing together a broad cross-section of viewpoints and voices. The authors review recent developments in WTO discussions and negotiations, and in the recent decisions of the WTO Appellate Body, from a sustainable development law perspective. The papers explore sustainable development aspects of current and emerging key issues in recent trade negotiations such as investment and competition law, intellectual property rights, investment arbitration, health and trade law, and the linkages between the WTO and multilateral environmental accords (MEAs). They also survey relevant new developments in trade and economic agreements at regional, inter-regional and bi-lateral levels. To order a copy, download the form below.

	CISDL / ILA / IDLO INTERNATIONAL LAW SEMINAR “Developing New Legal Tools for Sustainability” 2pm – 5pm, May 11, 2006 OCDH Common Room, 3660 Peel Street McGill University, Faculty of Law The CISDL is pleased to invite you to an international law seminar chaired by Hon. Judge Charles Gonthier, former Canadian Supreme Court Justice and CISDL Chair, Ms. Marie-Claire Cordonier Segger, Director, CISDL (Session One), and Mr. Ashfaq Khalfan, Director, CISDL (Session Two). The seminar will be divided into two Legal Experts Panels. In the first panel, international discussants will dedicate their attention to economic law instruments in biodiversity, seed and climate change treaties, while the second panel will explore legal issues related to sustainability impact assessments in trade and investment treaties. All Welcome, RSVP Preferred Email Eleonore Derome at ederome@cisdl.org Programme:

United Nations Climate Change Conference – Nairobi 2006