PRINCIPLES OF CARIBBEAN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

by Winston Anderson Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice & former Professor of International Law, University of the West Indies General Counsel, Caribbean Community

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW INSTITUTE Washington, D.C.

Copyright © 2012 Environmental Law Institute 2000 L Street NW, Washington DC 20036 Published October 2012. Printed in the United States of America ISBN 978-158576-157-9

This book is dedicated to the memory of Professor Ralph Carnegie, a founding father and prince of the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies

Table of Contents About the Author.......................................................................................................................ix Acknowledgements.....................................................................................................................ix 1.

Preliminary Issues in Caribbean Environmental Law..................................................... 1 The Environmental Problématique.............................................................................. 2 Caribbean Historiography........................................................................................... 3 Environmental Perspectives......................................................................................... 4 Philosophical Underpinnings....................................................................................... 6 Evolution of Caribbean Environmental Policy............................................................10 The Caribbean Environment Programme...................................................................11 Sources of Caribbean Environmental Law..................................................................15

2.

International Environmental Law and the Caribbean Environment..............................19 International Environmental Law...............................................................................19 Sources of International Environmental Law..............................................................20 Evolution in International Law and Policy.................................................................25 The United Nations and the Environment................................................................29 International Dispute Settlement and the Environment.............................................32 Application of International Environmental Law to the Caribbean............................34 Institutional Arrangements.........................................................................................39 International Environmental Customs........................................................................40 General Principles of Law..........................................................................................40

3.

Principles of Environmental Law..................................................................................43 Juridical Applicability................................................................................................44 Specific Environmental Principles..............................................................................46

4.

The Constitution and the Environment........................................................................61 Perspectives on Human Rights and the Environment................................................61 Environmental Rights in the Constitution.................................................................64 Derivative Environmental Rights...............................................................................67 Constitutional Limitation to Environmental Principles..............................................79 Constitutional Action for Environmental Redress......................................................80

5.

Legislative Regulation of the Environment...................................................................83 Evolution in Legislative Regulation............................................................................84 Institutional Management..........................................................................................88 General Effect on Common Law.............................................................................109 Specific Effect on Compensatory Civil Actions........................................................110

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6.

Administrative Environmental Law.............................................................................111 Development of Framework for Judicial Review......................................................111 The Role of the Judiciary in Environmental Management.......................................113 The Grounds for Judicial Review.............................................................................114 Remedies.................................................................................................................117 Judicial Review and Direct Party Action..................................................................124

7.

The Law of Property...................................................................................................125 Property Law and Ownership of the Environment...................................................126

8.

The Law of Torts and Environmental Protection.......................................................145 Tort Actions.............................................................................................................146 Common Law Actions Involving a Foreign Element................................................166

9.

Town and Country Planning......................................................................................171 The Relationship to English Planning Law..............................................................171 Planning Law and the Common Law......................................................................176 Features of the Planning System..............................................................................179 Planning Law and the Preservation of Cultural Heritage.........................................204 Planning Law and Development by the Government...............................................204

­10.

Environmental Impact Assessments.............................................................................207 Defining Environmental Impact Assessment.............................................................208 Sources of Caribbean Environmental Impact Assessment Law..................................209 Institutional Framework...........................................................................................212 Regime Governing the Environmental Impact Assessment Process...........................213 Breach of the Environmental Impact Assessment Requirement................................232

11.

Regulation of Pollution...............................................................................................233 Legislative Framework for Pollution Control............................................................233 Sectoral Regulation..................................................................................................242

12.

Solid and Liquid Waste Management..........................................................................257 Management of Toxic and Hazardous Substances.....................................................258 Dumping of Extra-Regional Wastes..........................................................................258 Water Quality and Supply.......................................................................................259 Mechanics of the Waste Management Regime..........................................................266 Economic Instruments.............................................................................................280

13.

Conservation of Nature and Wildlife..........................................................................283 Features of Regulation.............................................................................................283 International Law of Biodiversity Protection............................................................285 Institutional Arrangements.......................................................................................290

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Substantive Regulation.............................................................................................292 Framework Legislative Control.................................................................................304 14.

Coastal Zone and Marine Areas Management.............................................................317 Background..............................................................................................................317 Private Rights in the Coastal Zone..........................................................................326 Maritime Rights.......................................................................................................331 Marine Pollution......................................................................................................337 Fisheries...................................................................................................................341 Coral Reef Destruction............................................................................................345 Coastal Zone Management Regimes.........................................................................345 The Caribbean Sea as a Special Area.......................................................................352

15.

Trade and the Environment........................................................................................357 Global Agreements on Trade and the Environment..................................................357 The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community Including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy...................................367 Caribbean Community Bilateral Treaties and the Environment................................372 CARICOM as Party to Treaties on Trade and the Environment..............................375

Index . ..................................................................................................................................377

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About the Author Winston Charles Anderson, of Jamaican nationality and upbringing, took the degree of Bachelor of Laws from the University of the West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) in 1983, and proceeded on a Commonwealth Scholarship to Cambridge University in England where he graduated with a Doctorate in Philosophy in 1988 majoring in International Law and Environmental Law. Also, in 1988, he successfully completed a course of training at the Inns of Court School of Law in London and was called to the Bar of England and Wales, as Barrister, with membership at the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn. Dr. Anderson rejoined the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies in 1988 and was awarded indefinite tenure in 1994. From 1994-1995, he was Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield, England, and, in 1996, Senior Lecturer at the University of Western Australia. He was appointed the General Counsel of the Caribbean Community Secretariat while on leave from the University of the West Indies 2003-2006, and in 2006, he was appointed Professor of Law in the Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies. From 2007-2010 he served as Executive Director of the Caribbean Law Institute Centre. On June 15, 2010, Professor Anderson was elevated to the Bench of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) at King’s House, Kingston, Jamaica. He was sworn in by His Excellency the Governor General of Jamaica, Sir Patrick Allen, in the presence of Prime Minister, The Honourable Bruce Golding; Leader of the Opposition, The Most Honourable Portia Simpson-Miller, among other dignitaries and guests. The Hon. Mr. Justice Anderson has the distinction of being the first Jamaican so appointed to the CCJ. Mr. Justice Anderson was called to the bar in Barbados (1989) and Jamaica (2006). His major academic publications include: The Law of Caribbean Marine Pollution (Kluwer Law International, The Netherlands 1997); Elements of Private International Law (Caribbean Law Publishers 2003); and Private International Family Law (Caribbean Law Publishers 2005). He is currently awaiting publication of three books: The Law of the Sea, Caribbean Community Integration Law, and Public International Law in the Caribbean. Judge Anderson is married to Dr. Sandra Anderson and they have three children: Anessa, Aleisha, and Anquan.

Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge with grateful thanks the tremendous support received from many persons over the years during which this book was being prepared. My students at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Faculty of Law were my sounding board and amongst my fiercest but most constructive critics. I relied heavily on the library facilities and the librarians at the Law Library, UWI. My special thanks to Ms. Nikeh Smithen, Attorney-at-Law, who performed yeoman service in proofreading and checking the footnoting of the entire text; to Madam Justice Louise Blenman for her tireless encouragement and support; and to my family for their love and understanding.

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