Milne backs calls for ‘green’ court

CHRISTINE Milne backs moves by the International Bar Association to establish an international court for the environment.

MOVES by the International Bar Association to establish an international court for the environment have been welcomed by Greens leader Christine Milne.

“If you consider that we have the International Criminal Court to bring the powerful to justice when they commit mass atrocities against innocent people, it makes perfect sense to have an international court of the environment,” Senator Milne said.

The proposal is part of a plan drawn up by an International Bar Association taskforce that aims to “green” international law in order to achieve what the taskforce refers to as “climate change justice”.

The taskforce, which includes Chief Justice Brian Preston of the NSW Land and Environment Court, will seek endorsement of its scheme at next week’s IBA conference in Tokyo.

The report also proposed drawing up a model statute that would clear the way for individuals and community groups to seek injunctions in climate change litigation against governments.

It calls for the creation of a new human right to a safe environment and for international trade agreements to be “greened” so they give precedence to environment laws over any conflicting trade measures.

The plan has been criticised by leading business groups and West Australian Attorney-General ­Michael Mischin, who described it as a “political manifesto” masquerading as a legal opinion.

But Senator Milne said global warming “raises the ultimate questions of justice within and ­between nation states”. “The fate of displaced people and flooded nation states forced to relocate are a matter of global law and ­currently there is not provision to address their legal status or grievances,” Senator Milne said.