A full understanding of how courts handle complex scientific questions is essential to appreciating the dynamics of environmental law. The Habitats and the Birds Directive—the core of EU nature conservation law—are usually seen the most ‘uniform’ parts of EU environmental law. Upcoming volume "EU Environmental Principles and Scientific Uncertainty before National Courts—the Case of the Habitats Directive" (Hart 2021) analyses the case law from 11 EU current and former Member States’ courts and explores the dynamics of how, and crucially why, their understandings of scientific uncertainty, on the one hand, and EU environmental principles on the other, vary.
The courts’ scope and depth of review, access to scientific knowledge, and scientific literacy all influence such decisions—as does their interpretation of norms and principles. How have the courts evaluated scientific evidence, encompassing its essential uncertainties? Comparative analysis is critical to appreciation of the range of judicial responses to scientific questions and how this affects the constitutional relationships within the administrative state and the implementation of EU environmental law at national level. Comparative environmental law is the next frontier of environmental law scholarship, and the upcoming book represents an important component thereof.
The book is co-edited by Mariolina Eliantonio (Maastricht University), Emma Lees (University of Cambridge) and Tiina Paloniitty (University of Helsinki). This webinar offers us a glimpse to the upcoming book, discussing the preliminary chapters.
For registration and questions, please contact Tiina Paloniitty (tiina.paloniitty@helsinki.fi).
