Case 15 The Trail Smelter Arbitration

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Case 1-5The Trail Smelter Arbitration

• By
• Walter Tribolet

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• Judicial Body
• Arbitral Tribunal of the American-Canadian Joint
  commission
• Facts
• Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company Limited
• Damage of 350,000 because of sulfur dioxide
  emissions
• Canada did not dispute liability and paid
• 1938 2 million lawsuit, awarded 75,000
• 1941 another lawsuit

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(No Transcript)
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• Issue
• Whether the Trail Smelter should be required to
  refrain from causing damage in the state of
  Washington in the future and, if so, to what
  extent
• United States law or international law?
• Decision
• No state has the right to use or permit the use
  of its territory in such a manner as to cause
  injury by fumes in or to the territory of another
  or the properties of persons therein,

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• Rational
• No precedent case in international law
• Decision of the US supreme court were taken as a
  guide
• Relevancy
• First case of its type
• Guide to similar cases
• Helped to formulate later air pollution treaties
  between U.S. and Canada