Introduction and Editorial Preface

Abstract

One of the unpleasant side-effects of globalization, economic development and growth is that not only do benefits cross national borders, but also problems like environmental pollution. This phenomenon has been studied from various disciplines and more particularly in international law. By the 1930s cases between states determined the extent to which polluting states could be held under international law to compensate for damage caused to the victim state. Recent disputes (e.g. between Argentina and Uruguay) show that although international environmental law has gone through a long development, there are still many uncertainties that need to be clarified. In addition, transboundary environmental legal disputes are not only remedied through instruments of international law. Increasingly, victims in national states also seek to apply their domestic legislation to transboundary environmental pollution cases. This raises a number of interesting questions, inter alia with respect to the competent forum, but also with respect to the applicable liability rule and the available remedies. To date the literature on international law and private law has to a large extent developed into separate doctrines, with international lawyers attempting to identify the scope of state responsibility under international law and private lawyers attempting to explain to what extent victims could get compensation for transboundary pollution using the techniques of private law. However, it is becoming clear that these two domains are not totally separate. We increasingly notice that in domestic cases dealing with transboundary issues the question also arises to what extent treaties or other international norms could furnish a source of liability. Moreover, in some specific cases treaties explicitly establish liability rules (e.g. in the case of nuclear liability or oil pollution). The first goal of this book is to therefore examine the remedies available for transboundary environmental pollution in an integrated manner. Thereby we will not only focus on remedies available in international law (conventions, customary international law), but we will integrate these in remedies available at the domestic level. The latter not