Throughout
2003 UNEP convened several Regional Chief Justices Needs-Assessment and
Planning Meetings. These meetings have drawn up needs responsive and country
specific national programmes of work for strengthening judicial capacity
in the area of environment law and sustainable development. Similar meetings
are currently scheduled for 2004: The Arab Chief Justices Meeting for
29-31 May in Cairo, the English speaking Caribbean Chief Justices Meeting
for 11-12 June in Trelawny, Jamaica, and the Francophone West African
Chief Justices Meeting to be held in October in Dakar.
These national programmes
of work will be implemented at the national level by the Chief Justices
and the respective national judicial training institutions, and will be
supported by UNEP in partnership with a global alliance of partners, including
the World Bank Institute, the United Nations University, UNITAR, IUCN,
the global academia and regional and national institutions with relevant
capabilities in the area of environmental law, training and education.
The goal of this programme
of work is for UNEP to carry out, on a cohesive, structured and sustained
basis, national activities under the direction and guidance of the respective
Chief Justices, for strengthening the role of the judiciary in securing
environmental governance, adherence to the rule of law and the effective
implementation of national environmental policies, laws and regulations
including the national level implementation of multilateral
environmental agreements.
To facilitate the
provision of the best available inputs towards these national programmes
of work, on a consistent and equitable basis across language and continental
frontiers, and to respond to the conviction, expressed by the participants
of the Global
Judges Symposium that “the deficiency in the knowledge, relevant
skills and information in regard to environmental law is one of the principal
causes that contribute to the lack of effective implementation, development
and enforcement of environmental law” (Johannesburg
Principles on Sustainable Development and the Role of Law), UNEP is
developing a series of environmental law training materials, to be translated
into the official languages of the UN, for broad national capacity building.
These materials include:
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