International Environmental Law
This is an emerging area of law for PIL. It follows on from all our work on legal issues arising from our opposition to various polluting projects in the UK.
The PIL team have built up a body of expertise and experience on environmental campaigns that is unique. We frequently work with campaign groups such as Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, as well as community groups and amenity groups. We have a strong understanding of how a legal campaign needs to feed into the political and community action work. Our lawyers are trained to be sensitive to the needs of communities.
PIL are now offering this service to groups around the world. We are aware that many of the legal issues common to our cases in the UK apply to projects elsewhere in the world. These include:
- Violation of Human Rights
- Obligations under international or European law
- Relationships of power between regulators and developers that oppress communities
- The failure of regulators to enforce environmental standards
- Adverse environmental effects that transgress international and European legal standards
For instance, many groups around the world are oppressed by the development of large dams, often funded through the World Bank, or, in the UK, under the government's Export Credit Guarantee System (ECGS). An example of the latter is the Ilisu dam in Turkey that was to be built by Balfour Beatty and others, and funded through the ECGS. PIL, instructed by the United Kurdish Committee, made representations to the UK Government on issues of international environmental and international human rights law. Eventually, as is well known, the UK Government decided not to fund this project. If it had decided otherwise that decision could have been challenged in the UK through judicial review.
We are aware of many similar projects proceeding around the world raising similar issues. We have put together a team of renowned international environmental lawyers that is expert in this particular area. We have the expertise and commitment to help groups fight oppressive and polluting projects, wherever they are in the world.