Pring, George W. (Rock); Pring, Catherine G. (Kitty) --- "The ‘Greening’ of Justice: Will it Help the Poor?" [2012] ELECD 655; in Le Bouthillier, Yves; Cohen, Alfie Miriam; Gonzalez Marquez, Juan Jose; Mumma, Albert; Smith, Susan (eds), "Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Law" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2012)

Book Title: Poverty Alleviation and Environmental Law

Editor(s): Le Bouthillier, Yves; Cohen, Alfie Miriam; Gonzalez Marquez, Juan Jose; Mumma, Albert; Smith, Susan

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781003282

Section: Chapter 11

Section Title: The ‘Greening’ of Justice: Will it Help the Poor?

Author(s): Pring, George W. (Rock); Pring, Catherine G. (Kitty)

Number of pages: 21

Extract:

11. The `greening' of justice: will it help
the poor?
George W. (Rock) Pring and Catherine G.
(Kitty) Pring
Improving, facilitating and expanding individual and collective access to law and
justice supports economic and social development. Legal reforms give the poor the
opportunity to assert their individual and property rights; improved access to justice
empowers the poor to enforce those rights. Increasing accessibility to courts lessens
and overcomes the economic, psychological, informational and physical barriers
faced by women, indigenous populations, and other individuals ... New legislation,
subsidized legal services, alternative dispute resolution, citizen education programs,
court fee waivers and information technology are other means to improve access.
(The World Bank, 2011)1

`Greening' ­ the integration of environmental, social and cultural values into
financial enterprises, industry, communities, markets and other institutions ­
is a central goal of sustainable development (Werksmann, 1996; World Bank,
2000; Nanda and Pring, 2003, pp. 22­27). Now, in numerous countries around
the world, another important institution is greening ­ the judiciary.
Specialized environmental courts and tribunals (ECTs) are springing up in
dozens of countries. These are judicial and administrative bodies specifically
authorized to adjudicate and decide disputes primarily concerning the envi-
ronment, natural resources, land use and/or related issues. The University of
Denver Environmental Court and Tribunals (ECT) Study, as of the start of
2012, has identified over 465 ECTs in 46 different nations and over 50 per cent
of these have been created in just the last five years. This first-ever global
multidisciplinary comparative study of ...