JUCN21
Environmental Law in an International Context
Atmosphere and Climate Change
29 March 2017
For this seminar we will focus on the Urgenda-judgment from the Rechtbank Den Haag in the
Netherlands. The judgment is from 24 June 2015 and concerns the Dutch government’s obligations
to lower carbon emissions.
You can find the judgment here:
http://www.urgenda.nl/documents/VerdictDistrictCourt-UrgendavStaat-24.06.2015.pdf
And there is a web-page for the judgment here:
http://www.urgenda.nl/en/climate-case/
Please read the judgment carefully and prepare to present and discuss the following questions.
Please note that it is expected of you to participate in the discussions following also the other groups’
presentations.
Preparations for everyone:
Describe the background of the case shortly. How did it get to the court? What legal instruments
(legislative acts, international agreements, etc. are involved? What arguments are put forth by the
respective parties to the case?
Preparations for Group 1
Valentin André Michel ANNE
Barbara Pöll
Sari Tollenaar
Stepan KORENEC
Karin Parpan
The case originated from judicial activism. Please present the topic of judicial activism to your
classmates. Consider the benefits and drawbacks of that (from an environmental protection
perspective), and also discuss to what extent such benefits and/or drawbacks were present in the
Urgenda-judgment.
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Preparations for Group 2
Shawn Jun Ta Lim
Tanya Hranisavljevic
Nora NAJI
Eden Scott
Rebecca Fountain
One of the issues in the Urgenda-case was that of standing, or access to courts. Describe how this
issue is of relevance in environmental proceedings (especially in relation to climate change and
atmosphere). Describe legal instruments that address this issue, particularly the Aarhus-convention,
and how they evolved. Also describe how the issue was dealt with in the Urgenda-judgment.
Preparations for Group 3
Mette Arpe Hansen
Emma Petifor
Alice Vedrines
Ivan Yi Fan Ng
Sorin Sterie
Starting from the Urgenda-judgment, describe the symbiosis between national law, EU law and
international public law. How do they interact? Do they complement each other, or are there
possible clashes between them? If so, how were they addressed in the judgment?
Preparations for Group 4
Daniel Jones
Christine Mair
Kanako Yasuoka
Dessy Maeyangsari
Arian Farahmand
Imagine you are the judges that received the Urgenda-case. Given the parties’ argumentation, how
would you have decided it? Would you have made a reference to the ECJ? Now consider that the
Netherlands were not a member state of the European Union. Would you have reached the same
outcome? Prepare to deliver such a (short) ruling given those circumstances.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Best wishes
Josefin
E-mail: [email protected]
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