INECE Joins UNEP to Host Global Judges Symposium at WSSD
The Global Judges Symposium, organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and co-sponsored by INECE, brought together over 100 of the world's most senior judges from over 80 countries to discuss improving the adoption and implementation of environment-related laws from August 18-21 in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Symposium issued an action plan, the Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development to strengthen the development, use and enforcement of environment-related laws in a move that signals a new era in the quest to deliver sustainable development.

Significantly, the Johannesburg Principles place a strong emphasis on enforcement and compliance, referring to enforcement over a dozen times in the three-page statement. In addition to emphasizing the critical role of the judiciary in the enforcement of environmental law, the Principles specifically call for "the improvement of the capacity of those involved in the process of promoting, implementing, developing and enforcing environmental law." They call for "full commitment to contributing towards the realization of the goals of sustainable development through the judicial mandate to implement, develop and enforce the law" and underline the critical importance of "implementation of national and international legal regimes…for achieving the goals of sustainable development."

Numerous Symposium panels focused on the importance of the judiciary in promoting compliance and enforcement. Notably, nearly every judge commented on the critical nature of effective implementation as a necessary component for the protection of the environment and the promotion of sustainable development. Such implementation, according to a number of judges, takes place not only at the level of the adjudicators of environmental cases, but also during the remedy stage after judgments are rendered. For more information on the Symposium, visit http://www.inece.org/wssd.html.

IUCN Launches Judicial Portal at WSSD
IUCN announced the world's first Internet based means for judges from around the world to communicate with one another and to share environmental law judgments and information at the Symposium.

The Judicial Portal was created by IUCN and UNEP to facilitate the creation of a global network of judges. Justice Stein praised the efforts of IUCN's Environmental Law Commission in developing the Portal and together with Dr. Klaus Töpfer, UNEP Executive Director, commended the collaborative efforts of UNEP and IUCN to help create a global network of judges.

The Portal will enable judges from around the world to exchange information on environmental law relevant to their decision making and will create an up to date global data bank of environmental law cases available to all judges" said Justice Stein. For more information on the Portal, visit http://www.inece.org/Judicial PortalFactSheet1.pdf.