Читать книгу Development of Environmental Laws and Jurisprudence in Pakistan - Irum Ahsan - Страница 4

In South Asia, challenges related to land degradation and desertification, biodiversity loss, water depletion and degradation, solid waste management, air quality degradation, environment-related health issues, degradation and depletion of coastal and marine resources, and the impacts of natural disasters are just some of the most important environmental consequences resulting from unsustainable development.

The adoption of environmental laws and regulatory frameworks since the 1970s has helped to slow these impacts, but by no means do they address the impacts adequately. Many environmental challenges are insufficiently reflected or absent in policies and frameworks. Where international principles and laws have been adopted by many countries, they often have not been translated into national, provincial, and local implementation rules and regulations. Furthermore, implementation, enforcement, and compliance are often weak, owing to a range of capacity and other challenges.

Access to environmental justice also remains a challenge. Although this is internationally recognized as a principle of good governance and of critical importance to the rule of law and sustainable development, justice remains inaccessible in a number of countries. The Office of the General Counsel at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), under one of its regional technical assistance projects, has worked with the judiciary of Pakistan and prepared this report to review the state of the country’s environmental laws, adjudication, and implementation.

This report reviews the provincial environmental protection acts of Pakistan with special emphasis on the institutional design, principles, and procedures provided under the law. It further examines the actual implementation of the law and the case law developed in this area with focus on the court’s interpretation and enforcement of the laws. Additionally, the report reviews the current curriculum of law schools and judicial academies and suggests the inclusion of environmental laws in their respective programs in future.

The authors would like to thank those who spared their time for interviews and provided assistance and support in making this work possible. Appreciation must be given to environmental lawyer Nusrat Jahan Nabeela for her constant support in collection of data and writing of the report. We would also like to acknowledge the Punjab Environment Protection Agency for providing information and procedural details about the implementation and enforcement of environmental laws in Pakistan, and the Judicial Academy for information about the extent of judicial training in environmental laws. We extend special appreciation to retired justice Tanveer Ahmad Khan, Director General, Punjab Judicial Academy; and Naseem-ur-Rehman, Deputy Director, Environmental Impact Assessment, Punjab Environment Protection Agency.