Aspects of International Law of Resources and Environment I mandatory II elective

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Aspects of International Law of Resources and
EnvironmentI (mandatory)II (elective)
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Todays Agenda

• Introduction of lecturers students
• Introduction of the concept of the IL classes
• Agenda of the IL classes
• Students Presentations
• Your ideas expectations
• Introduction to law

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IL Agenda
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Criteria for the Assessment of Presentations

• content of presentation
• (handling of topic, structure,
  understandability, focus on important points)
• difficulty of topic
• slides
• (reasonable amount structure of information
  not design)
• way of presentation
• (rhetorical quality, not just repeating the
  slides, use of own words, facing of audience,
  involvement of audience)

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Topics for Students Presentations
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International Law I II

• General Introduction to Law and iIts Basic
  Concepts

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What is Law?

• set of rules of conduct
• made by an organised entity (i.p. a state)
• governing the relationships between people and
  organisations
• providing means of enforcement and / or
  punishment of those who do not comply with the
  rules

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• law is not necessarily congruent with
• justice
• morality

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Purpose of Law

• to allow people to coexist
• by providing an enforceable set of rules
• and thus making other peoples conduct
  foreseeable and setting a frame for a persons
  own conduct

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Position of Law within the Whole

• The law does not stand alone but interacts with
• the political system
• the economical system
• society

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Why is Law Binding?

• formally because it is made in accordance with
  the applicable rules (e.g. an act made by
  parliament in accordance with the provisions of
  the constitution)
• practically because it is considered binding by
  a majority

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Addressees of Law (1)

• General definition
• an individual or an entity that has rights
  and/or duties under a law

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Addressees of Law (2)

• Possible addressees
• individuals
• private entities (e.g. companies, associations)
• states
• supranational and international organisations
• (depending on the specific law that is
  applicable to a particular case)

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Addressees of Law (3)

• Types of addressees (1)
• legal subjects
• can have rights/obligations in relation to other
  legal subjects
• i.p. individuals, companies, states,
  international organisations

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Addressees of Law (4)

• Types of addressees (2)
• parts of legal subjects with purely internal
  rights/duties
• can not have rights/duties in relation to other
  legal subjects, but only within the legal subject
  they belong to
• e.g. authorities or parliament as part of a
  state, the managing board as part of a company

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Fields of Law (1)

• Public Law (the law governing the relationship
  between individuals and the state or between
  states)
• (Public) International Law (the law that
  regulates the relationships between states and
  international organisations)
• Constitutional Law (the law that governs the
  fundamental principles of the organisation of a
  state and of its relationship to the individuals
  (e.g. government bodies, legislative procedure,
  civil rights)
• Administrative Law (the law dealing with the
  decision-making and control of administrative
  units of government, sub-categories are e.g.
  police law, local government, tax law)

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Fields of Law (2)

• Private Law (the law governing the relationship
  between individuals)
• General Private Law (i.p. contract, tort)
• Specific Private Law (e.g. commercial law,
  company law, competition law, employment law)
• Private International Law (the branch of law
  regulating all lawsuits involving a foreign law
  element where a difference in result will occur
  depending on which laws are applied)

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Fields of Law (3)

• Criminal Law (the law that deals with crime and
  the legal punishment of criminal offences)
• annex to each field Procedural Law (e.g. civil
  litigation, criminal procedure)
• areas touching more than one field (e.g.
  environmental law public environmental law
  private environmental law environmental
  criminal law)
• areas overlapping with other humanities (e.g.
  legal theory, philosophy of law, criminology)

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National and International Public and Private Law
(1)
State A
Overview
National Public Law
National Private Law
STATE
Public International Law
International Private Law
company
State B
individual
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National and International Public and Private Law
(2)
State A
National Public Law (different in state A and
state B)
STATE
STATE
State B
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National and International Public and Private Law
(3)
State A
National Private Law (different in state A and
state B)
State B
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National and International Public and Private Law
(4)
State A
Public International Law
State B
International Organisation
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National and International Public and Private Law
(5)
State A
International Private Law
State B
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Sources of Law (1)

• Types
• legislation
• acts made by parliament
• delegated legislation (law made outside
  parliament, e.g. by government or local
  authority)
• judge-made law
• customary law
• treaties

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Sources of Law (2)

• Levels
• local government
• state within a federal state / province
• national
• supranational (e.g. EU)
• international
• (no universal hierarchy within national law
  priority is a matter of definition)

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Conflict of Laws

• because the dividing lines between the different
  sources of law are not always unambiguous,
  conflicts between different laws may arise (e.g.
  between different national laws)
• therefore rules / mechanisms needed to solve
  conflicts (e.g. PIL)

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Execution and Enforcement of Law

• For law to be efficient, means are needed to
  ensure that it is executed and if necessary
  enforced.
• Such means are
• a well-organised system of executing bodies (i.p.
  in administrative law)
• a functioning court system incl. procedural rules
• sanctions for non-compliance (e.g. loss of
  rights, fines, imprisonment)

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Construction / Interpretation of Law (1)

• the process of determining how the provisions
  of the general law relate to a specific legal
  case
• necessary because acts, contracts, judgements
  etc. are not always unambiguous (e.g. due to
  compromises in the course of enactment,
  unforeseen situations, change in meaning)
• the rules apply similarly to acts and contracts
  (there are specific rules on the treatment of
  judgements in common law)

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Construction / Interpretation of Law (2)

• Established rules / approaches
• ordinary meaning rule ( words must be given
  their plain, ordinary and literal meaning)
• systematic approach (a provision must be looked
  upon in its systematic context, e.g. position
  within the act, interaction with other
  provisions)
• purposive approach (the purpose of the provision
  has to be taken into account)
• historical approach ( the situation at the time
  the provision was made and subsequent
  developments have to be considered)

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Interpretation Example 1 (Nazi Symbols)
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Section 86a German Criminal CodeUse of Symbols
of Unconstitutional Organizations

• (1) Whoever
• 1. domestically distributes or publicly uses, in
  a meeting or in writings disseminated by him,
  symbols of one of the parties or organizations
  indicated in Section 86 (1), no. 1, 2 and 4 or
• 2. (...)
• shall be punished with imprisonment for not more
  than three years or a fine.
• (2) Symbols, within the meaning of subsection
  (1), shall be, in particular, flags, insignia,
  uniforms, slogans and forms of greeting. Symbols
  which are so similar as to be mistaken for those
  named in sentence 1 shall be deemed to be
  equivalent thereto.
• Section 86 (1) no. 4
• means of propaganda, the contents of which are
  intended to further the aims of a former National
  Socialist organization

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Interpretation Example 2 (Waste)

• Definition of Waste (Directive 2006/12/EC)
• "waste" shall mean any substance or object in
  the categories set out in Annex I which the
  holder discards or intends or is required to
  discard

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Categories of Waste (Annex I)

• Production or consumption residues not otherwise
  specified below
• Off-specification products
• Products whose date for appropriate use has
  expired
• Materials spilled, lost or having undergone other
  mishap, including any materials, equipment, etc.,
  contaminated as a result of the mishap
• Materials contaminated or soiled as a result of
  planned actions (e.g. residues from cleaning
  operations, packing materials, containers, etc.)
• Unusable parts (e.g. reject batteries, exhausted
  catalysts, etc.)
• Substances which no longer perform satisfactorily
  (e.g. contaminated acids, contaminated solvents,
  exhausted tempering salts, etc.)
• Residues of industrial processes (e.g. slags,
  still bottoms, etc.)

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Categories of Waste (Annex I)

• Residues from pollution abatement processes (e.g.
  scrubber sludges, baghouse dusts, spent filters,
  etc.)
• Machining/finishing residues (e.g. lathe
  turnings, mill scales, etc.)
• Residues from raw materials extraction and
  processing (e.g. mining residues, oil field
  slops, etc.)
• Adulterated materials (e.g. oils contaminated
  with PCBs, etc.)
• Any materials, substances or products the use of
  which has been banned by law
• Products for which the holder has no further use
  (e.g. agricultural, household, office, commercial
  and shop discards, etc.)
• Contaminated materials, substances or products
  resulting from remedial action with respect to
  land
• Any materials, substances or products which are
  not contained in the above mentioned categories.