The global phenomenon of the establishment of specialist courts is one of the most important recent developments in environmental law. Although they are generally seen as a much needed innovation, they do pose challenges, particularly around questions of legitimacy. This important book tackles these questions directly, looking specifically at the courts in the common law world. It argues that to fully understand the nature of the adjudication of these courts, a bottom-up approach must be taken: ie the question before the court is determinative. Despite its theoretical focus, the book will also provide invaluable insights to practitioners engaging with these new courts for the first time. An innovative study on a seismic change in how environmental law is adjudicated.

Table Of Contents

1. Introduction

I. The Rise in Specialist Environmental Adjudication

II. An Interactional Theory for Environmental Adjudication

III. The Method of Developing a Theory for Environmental Adjudication

IV. Certain Caveats

2. Specialist Environment Courts: Mapping the Landscape

I. Specialist Environment Courts: A Typology

II. Specialist Environment Courts as Dynamic Adjudicatory Forms

III. Introducing the Case Studies: The Environment Court of New Zealand and the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales

IV. Underlying Tensions

3. The Struggle to Make Legal Sense of Specialist Environment Courts

I. Normative Legitimacy and Analytical Frames

II. The 'Administrative Justice-Adjudicative Pluralism' Frame

III. The 'Generic Instrumentalism' Frame

IV. The 'Separation of Powers' Frame

V. Developing a Frame that We Can Agree On?

4. Developing the Theory: Adjudicative Integrity

I. The Malleability of Adjudication

II. Normative Justifiability and Adjudicative Integrity

5. Developing the Theory: Contextual Foundations

I. The Inherent Features of Environmental Problems

II. Interaction and Change

III. Uncertainty

IV. Drawing the Threads Together

6. The Interactional Theory in Practice

I. Acknowledging the Challenges in Environmental Adjudication

II. Responding to Uncertainty

III. Responding to the Collective Action Nature of Environmental Problems

IV. Testing the Theory

7. Conclusion

I. Findings

II. Developing the Theory

III. Filling in the Frame

IV. Employing the Theory

V. Future Directions

VI. Conclusion