Volume 2: Issue 2 (2006)
Szandra Bereczky & Kirsten Mercer
Sumudu Atapattu & Michelle Toering-Sanders
Du développement durable aux normes ISO : peut-on certifier la « bonne conduite » des entreprises?
Olivier Boiral
Abstract: The implementation of sustainable development practices in corporations has become a requirement that leaders can no longer ignore, due to social pressures and to the challenges that the incorpora-tion of economic, environmental and social concerns have given rise to. Too often limited to general principles that are more or less unconnected to organizations' daily activities, sustainable development must now be incorporated into management systems and in practice so as not to lose its already diminished credibility. The author analyzes in what ways the ISO management systems can en-courage the inclusion and implementation of sustainable development's main aspects. After a criti-cal examination of the origin and use of sustainable development as a concept, the author shows that the adoption of ISO norms 9001, 14001 and 26000 is likely, in certain circumstances, to help companies incorporate economic, environmental and social concerns. The procedural nature of these norms, however, does not enable one to acknowledge, from the beginning, the main challenges linked to sustainable development. This acknowledgment depends, in the end, on companies' efforts to give substance and content to a concept that lacks a clear definition. ISO norms represent, therefore, implementation tools that can be relevant, but the use and efficiency of which depend more on their users than on first principles or on the intrinsic characteristics of these management systems.
The Duty to Negotiate International Environmental Disputes in Good Faith
Cameron Hutchison
Abstract: Within the context of international watercourse law and high seas fisheries law, this article explores the essence of good faith and the ensuing obligations of States in their quest of a formalised agreement on environmental protection in situations where that environment's integrity competes with the right of use of its resources. It is in this view that this work discusses in three steps the duty to negotiate in good faith. First, the author reviews this principle in situations of dispute settlement. Second, a distinction is made between the particular nature of the obligation and similar doctrines of international law, including the duty to consult in good faith. Third, the author details the specific requirements of the duty to negotiate in good faith. Finally, the author advocates for the expansion of the doctrine of good faith by drawing a parallel between the content of this principle and the ultimate purpose of the obligation.
Christine Frison
Abstract: This article analyzes the main features of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) through the lens of the principles established under the New Delhi Declaration of Principles of International Law Relating to Sustainable. The aim of this piece is to demonstrate how the Development ITPGRFA reflects the textual and implicit principles of sustainable development law as they were intended for the consumption of the international community. Herein, the author defines and locates these principles and highlights the role which they assume in the Treaty.
Book Review: "Looking to Europe"
Lynda Collins
Reviewed: Yearbook of European Environmental Law, Volume 5, Thijs Etty, ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005)
