Disputationer 2016
Josefin Gooch
Protecting Ecological Integrity in Transboundary Watercourses:
An Intergrational Approach towards Implementing Environmental Flows
Datum för disputation: måndagen den 14 november 2016
Fakultetsopponent: professor Dan Tarlock, Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institution of Technology, Chicago
Ämne: internationell miljörätt
Abstract
The thesis explores the obligation in international law to protect the ecological integrity of transboundary watercourses. The thesis specifically examines the obligation to protect environmental flows, which essentially means to protect a certain water flow for the benefit of freshwater ecosystems and the ecosystem services they supply. The obligation to protect the integrity of transboundary watercourses' ecosystems is understood to apply within the context of the principle of equitable and reasonable use, meaning that the protection of ecosystem in most cases will be subject to a reconciliation process where uses of a watercourse are made subject to trade-offs between competing needs and interests. The scientifically defined requirements of water flow (i.e. the magnitude, timing, rate of change, frequency and duration of water flows) and the application of an equitable and reasonable use are in the thesis analysed within th context of five transboundary case studies. A novel analytical framework, combining relevant law and science aspects is developed to assist in these analyses.
The thesis contributes to a better understanding of the law-science interface and to a clearer perspective on the normative scope of the obligation to protect the integrity of transboundary watercourse ecosystems. The thesis furthermore provides a novel analysis of the legal capacity required to implement this obligation, as well as an analysis of the legal capacity of regulatory approaches used for implementing environmental flows.
Eduardo Gill-Pedro
EU Fundamental Rights and National Democracies: Complementary or Contradictory?
Datum för disputation: fredagen den 21 oktober 2016
Fakultetsopponent: professor Antonina Bakardjieva Engelbrekt, Stockholms universitet, Stockholm
Ämne: EU-rätt
Abstract
The question asked in this thesis is: what is the impact on the democratic legitimacy of the legal orders of the member states of the EU, where the meaning of EU fundamental rights is determined by the Court of Justice of the EU.
It begins by developing a theoretical framework which reconstructs the deep structure of the law of the member states, in order to understand the ground of legitimacy for national law. It concludes that the legitimacy of national law is tied to the democratic processes through which those subject to the law can contest the authority of that law. Human rights are the institutional mechanisms which make that contestation possible. Human Rights therefore are conditions of democracy. Further, human rights are legal norms which themselves are the subject of disagreement, therefore they need to be elaborated through democratic processes.
The thesis argues that the European Convention on Human Rights ‘fits’ this understanding of human rights - the Convention and the ECtHR are best conceived as subsidiary supervisory mechanisms by which all the states which are parties to the Convention support each other in the observance of rights which form part of the deep structure of their own domestic laws, and which are the conditions for the democratic nature of their national legal orders.
The thesis then uses that theoretical framework as a normative standards in order to conducts an assessment of the demands that the EU makes of the member states in respect of fundamental rights. It focuses on three aspects of the EU fundamental rights practice - the point of EU fundamental rights, the foundations of EU fundamental rights, and the citizen of the EU, as a bearer of rights. It observes that there are important differences between national human rights and EU fundamental rights in all three aspects.
The thesis concludes that the demands which EU fundamental rights place on member states have the potential to undermine the ability of the member states legal orders to claim democratic legitimacy.
Justin Pierce
The Antitrust Dilemma. Balancing Market Power, Innovation and Standardisation.
Datum för disputation: fredagen den 3 juni 2016
Fakultetsopponent: professor Lars Henriksson, Handelshögskolan i Stockholm
Ämne: civilrätt
Abstract
This work is principally concerned with one particular part of European economic law, Article 102 Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and the way in which the European courts and the European regulator define and delineate the spheres of 'innovation' and the 'protection of competition' in their interpretation of 'abuse' and 'efficiency gains', and how they elaborate the relationship between these two concepts in light of innovation. Hence, it deals with questions like the definition and place of 'innovation' in the competition provisions of the Union, focusing on the role of Article 102 TFEU and the relationship with innovation. A large part of the enquiry will, inevitably, involve the question of whether (and if so, to what extent) innovation is supported by the curent form and application of Article 102 TFEU. As such questioning whether it reflects particualr models that are out-dated and damaging to the achievement of the innovation goal. In order to arrive at the answers to these questions a Hayekian model of competition is applied to the analysis of the law.
Britta Sjöstedt
Protecting the Environment in Relation to Armed Conflict. The Role of Multilateral Environmental Agreements.
Datum för disputation: torsdagen den 19 maj 2016
Fakultetsopponent: professor Michael Bothe, Goethe University, Frankfurt, Tyskland
Ämne: folkrätt
Abstract
This thesis examines how environmental treaties, also referred to as multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), can enhance the protection of the environment during armed conflicts. The examination covers both international and non-international armed conflicts, as well as the immediate aftermath of armed conflicts (postconflict).
Most of the previous research has focused on the application of the law of armed conflict and customary international environmental law to deal with wartime environmental damage. There appears to be a knowledge gap in the literature on how MEAs can operate in relation to armed conflicts. I argue that MEAs present a missed opportunity to strengthen environmental protection in relation to armed conflict, at both an institutional and a normative level. In this thesis, I study the World Heritage Convention and the Ramsar Convention to explore the potential of MEAs to operate during armed conflicts.
In warfare, environmental harm can lawfully take place if it serves to attain successful military operations. This is because the law of armed conflict is considered to apply as the lex specialis in wartime, which means that its rules take precedence over any incompatible rules of peacetime law that are regarded as more general, such as international environmental law. I suggest that instead of determining which rule prevails, a ‘reconciliatory approach’ can be undertaken if two rules are normatively incoherent and apply to the same subject matter at the same time. The approach opens up the possibility for harmonisation of the obligations of MEAs and the law of armed conflict, and opts for a complementary application of both legal frameworks in order to safeguard the environment.
Moa de Lucia Dahlbeck
International Environmental Law and the Search for Harmony with Nature.
A Critical Inquiry into the Metaphysical Underpinnings of the Legal Discourse on Environmental Protection.
Datum för disputation: tisdagen den 12 april 2016
Fakultetsopponent: professor Andreas Philippopoulos-Mihalopoulos, the Westminster Law and Theory Lab, London
Ämne: folkrätt
Abstract
For some time now, the world in general and international law in particular have witnessed one and the same widespread call for action. Both public and private interests claim that present-day standards and technology have proven insufficient for saving the natural environment. From this claim has emerged a call that entreats us to approach the problem of the deteriorating natural environment by including nature into our moral considerations. The current study focuses on analyzing what is arguably one of the most influential and widely recognized expressions of this call for action: the report series entitled Harmony with Nature: Report of the Secretary General.
The study aims to argue that the Reports’ outline of a new ethics can be understood as being underpinned by the metaphysical system of early rationalist Benedict Spinoza. Given Spinoza’s understanding of nature and morality, however, there is reason to critically evaluate the plausibility of naturalizing international environmental law, as requested by the reports. The rationale behind the present study is therefore to (1) provide a thorough review of Spinoza’s metaphysical philosophy so as to arrive at an adequate understanding of his ethics and moral theory, and (2) evaluate international environmental law in light of this understanding so as to be able to assess the practical effects of including nature into the moral considerations of the international legal order.
