Natural Law Commons^™

“Fleeing The Climate: The Need For Protection Of Climate Refugees In The Light Of International Law”, Carina Dietmayer

Pace International Law Review

Climate change, which is already making itself felt, poses challenges for international law and the international community. Climate change and its consequences will lead to (involuntary) human mobility and affect many people. This forced migration is not yet specifically addressed by international law. This article addresses climate-induced migration and the protection of climate refugees through international refugee and migration law, international human rights law, international environmental law, climate change law and international disaster law. It analyzes how and, above all, why climate refugees are protected. The core thesis of the article is the justification of a need for protection of …

Conserving Conservation Servitudes: The Role Of The Prior Public Use Doctrine In Protecting Privately Conserved Land In The United States And Australia, Olivia Clausen

Pace International Law Review

Both the United States and Australia would benefit from more conservation of private land, and conservation servitudes can help both countries achieve this. However, in the United States and Australia, the power of eminent domain is a threat to the perpetuity of conservation servitudes. The prior public use doctrine, a common law doctrine in the United States arising out of the public trust doctrine, could limit eminent domain in these cases and provide protection to conservation servitudes. This doctrine states that land devoted to one public use (such as conservation) may not be condemned for another inconsistent public use unless …

Effectiveness Of The Existing International Humanitarian Law Provisions In Protecting The Natural Environment During Internal Armed Conflicts, Joharah M. Alkahtani

Dissertations & Theses

The environment is inherently at risk in any armed conflict and the natural environment is always a victim of wars. In order to properly protect the environment, the international community must explicitly recognize the civilian nature of the environment and bar all damages to it notwithstanding its extent, longevity and severity. The current study focuses on the environmental protection during armed conflicts. In World War I, parties employed the indiscriminate use of chemical weapons as a way of gaining military advantage over their enemies. The world responded by adopting the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and …

Nature’S Law: The Evolutionary Origin Of Property Rights, Kathryn Loncarich

Pace Law Review

This article contributes to the outline of the origin of property rights set forth by Professor Krier, by more fully analyzing the role of evolutionary biology in the development of property rights. This article focuses on the pre-political formation of property ownership and the initial formation of concepts of property and ownership. Expanding on Krier’s analysis, this article considers the implications of this evolutionary foundation on our modern property regime, particularly given the growing chasm between the wealthy on one side and the poor and middle-class on the other.

Part II discusses the growing disparity of wealth in America and …

The Charter Of The Forest: Evolving Human Rights In Nature, Nicholas A. Robinson

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Carta de Foresta, the Charter of the Forest of 1217, is among the first statutes in environmental law of any nation. Crafted to reform patently unjust governance of natural resources in 13th century England, the Charter of the Forest became a framework through which to reconcile competing environmental claims, then and into the future. The Charter confirmed the rights of “free men.” Kings resisted conceding these rights. When confronted with violation of the Charter, barons and royal councils obliged kings repeatedly to reissue the Forest Charter and pledge anew to obey its terms.