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18 Fordham Envtl. L. Rev. 587 (2006-2007)
Linking Human Rights, Development, and Environment: Experiences from Litigation in South Asia

handle is hein.journals/frdmev18 and id is 593 raw text is: LINKING HUMAN RIGHTS, DEVELOPMENT, AND ENVIRONMENT: EXPERIENCES FROM LITIGATION IN SOUTH ASIA Jona Razzaque* ABSTRACT Despite having several procedural routes to bring actions in the court, public interest litigation seems to be the often-used tool used by the community groups in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh to pro- tect the environment. In recent years, the decisions of the courts in- tegrate both social and ecological concerns with particular attention to questions of distributive justice, community empowerment and democratic accountability. While public interest litigation is some- times criticized as nothing more than 'tokenism', the judiciary in these three South Asian countries has taken a forward-looking ap- proach by relaxing standing of community groups and applying in- ternational environmental principles. With the increase of large in- frastructure projects (e.g. dams) and privatization of natural re- sources (e.g. water, gas/oil), it is pertinent to examine the role of litigation in the protection of environment. This paper discusses three issues: the growth of public interest environmental litigation in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh; human rights, environment and de- velopment discourse; and the approach of the judiciary. The paper concludes that access to courts may not ensure a just substantive outcome. The substantive right to a healthy environment, as inter- preted by the judiciary, needs to be strengthened with adequate in- formation and participation of affected communities to protect the environment. Participation of affected parties is crucial to make the linkages between social, environmental and developmental concerns, and examples from all three countries show that a strong procedural regime is lacking. * Barrister and Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of the West of Eng- land (UWE) in the United Kingdom.

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