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4 Rev. Eur. Comp. & Int'l Envtl. L. iv (1995)

handle is hein.journals/reel4 and id is 1 raw text is: Ten years ago during the evening of 2 December 1984, the residents of Bhopal, India were exposed to one of the world's worst industrial disasters. A highly toxic substance known as 'methyl isocynate' (MIC) leaked from the allegedly 'hightech' Union Carbide of India Limited (UC) factory. This disaster killed over 2,500 residents of Bhopal and injured over 200,000 people who will bear the scars of this industrial genocide for life. Most of the people that were killed or injured lived in dire poverty around the UC plant. According to studies carried out by Bhopal physicians, the 'gas leak had serious repercussions both for the present and future generations: many of those injured were pregnant women, who were forced to have abortions, or encountered premature deliveries and foetal deformaties. Research carried out by the Industrial Toxicology Research Centre in Delhi illustrates that toxic substances such as MIC adversely affect the immune system and can potentially be mutagenic and carcinogenic. The massive scale of damage and its long term effects on the ecosystem, in addition to the adverse human effects, are still uncertain. It is no wonder that the Bhopal accident has been described by Dr C.S. Krishnamurthy, a leading Indian Scientist, as 'a disaster for generations'. (Ed.: for an excellent article on the litigation that ensued from the Bhopal disaster, see C.M. Abraham and Sushila Abraham, 'The Bhopal Case and the Development of Environ- mental Law in India', ICLQ, 40 (1991), 334-365). What is the cost of development? Bhopal is testimony to the reality that development unfortunately has adverse ecological costs and infringes upon the most sacred human right, the right to life, far too fre- quently. Many industries such as UC locate plants in countries where environmental laws are either too weak or are not enforced. In the end, the environment and its inhabitants, human, animal, fauna and flora, pay the inevitable price. The articles in this special issue on Asia in RECIEL not only confirm this bleak observation, but also illustrate crucial developments currently taking place in many Asian countries to ensure that in the future, development is sustainable and precautionary. The lead article by Mika Ichihara and Andrew Harding is a fascinating study of the Malaysian Rare Earth (ARE) case, yet another example of a company locat- ing its operations in a country with lax environmental laws, with serious human and environmental costs. The multiple dimensions of the litigation that ensued as a result of the 'dumping' of toxic wastes from the ARE factory illustrate that environmental litigation generally involves many complex legal issues as well as intricate scientific considerations. The plaintiffs in this case were residents near the ARE plant who sued in negligence, nuisance and the rule in Rylands v. Fletcher. Ichihara and Harding describe the High Court and Supreme Court decisions, the latter of which overturned the High Court's ruling to grant an injunc- tion restraining ARE from continuing operations 'in such a manner as to cause the escape of radioactive wastes' (as well as specifying how wastes must be stored in the interim). The authors engage in a con- vincing critique of the Supreme Court's ruling that lifted the injunctions thereby allowing ARE to con- tinue operations. Notwithstanding this final judgment, ARE's parent company Mitsubishi Chemical decided to close down its plant in Malaysia. The authors admit that although the legal ruling was unsatisfactory from the environmental and human rights perspectives, in the end vigorous local opposition coupled with strong public opinion lead to the eventual shutdown of the ARE plant. Indeed, the victory was certainly 'pyrrhic'. The next two articles describe developments in environmental law in India and China. Martin Lau explores the status of environmental laws in India by first providing us with the historical background of the law, and second describes modern developments since the Stockholm Conference on Environment and Development in 1972. Lau's survey of existing legal instruments and the innovative developments in pub- lic interest litigation serve to reinforce his conclusion that 'India now has the most developed and sophisti- cated framework of environmental law in South Asia'. Lau also briefly compares the approach in Pakistan, where similar environmental problems are encoun- tered and where the right to a healthy environment has been firmly planted in law, as in India. (Ed.: see Martin Lau's case comment on Pakistan in this issue of RECIEL). Dr Hong Mei's article on 'Legal Gateways' is an excel- lent survey of both the historical background and cur- Iv Editorial

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