Fisher, Elizabeth; Jones, Judith; von Schomberg, René --- "Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Perspectives and Prospects" [2006] ELECD 384; in Fisher, Elizabeth; Jones, Judith; von Schomberg, René (eds), "Implementing the Precautionary Principle" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2006)

Book Title: Implementing the Precautionary Principle

Editor(s): Fisher, Elizabeth; Jones, Judith; von Schomberg, René

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781845427023

Section: Chapter 1

Section Title: Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Perspectives and Prospects

Author(s): Fisher, Elizabeth; Jones, Judith; von Schomberg, René

Number of pages: 16

Extract:

1. Implementing the precautionary
principle: perspectives and prospects
Elizabeth Fisher, Judith Jones and
René von Schomberg

In the last two decades the precautionary principle has become an estab-
lished feature of environmental, public health and other risk regulation
regimes in many different jurisdictions. It has been included in policy and
law and given rise to a diverse body of decision-making practices (de
Sadeleer 2002, Trouwborst 2002). The literature on the precautionary prin-
ciple has grown exponentially alongside these developments. That scholar-
ship and commentary is a rich and wide-ranging one and has included:
general discussions of the principle (Freestone and Hey 1996, Harding and
Fisher 1999, O'Riordan et al. 2001, Raffensperger and Tickner 1999); dis-
cussions about the legitimacy of the principle from a range of different dis-
ciplinary perspectives (Cross 1996, Morris 2000, Segal 1999, Treich 2001);
reviews of its inclusion in law and policy (Christoforou 2002, de Sadeleer
2002, Scott and Vos 2002, Trouwborst 2002); discussions of its applications
in specific circumstances (Gullett 2000, Gullett et al. 2001, Levidow 2001,
Vos 2004, Walker 2003); and examinations of its implications for regulatory
policy (Harremoës et al. 2002, Klinke and Renn 2002, Marchant and
Mossman 2004, Stirling 2001, Wiener and Rogers 2002).
While the literature on the principle is a large one, the challenges involved
in its actual and potential application have tended to be underestimated. In
particular, the messy business of integrating the principle into existing insti-
tutions and relating it to well-established decision- ...