Environment Law

While important judgments constitute the backbone of environmental jurisprudence

important laws have been specifically enforced by the legislature to safeguard the.
cn\iroI1mcnt. We have in class discussed the critical aspects of both the above. This
handout would thus seek to provide further aspects of the law concerning em-ironment.

ISO 9000 I ISO 14000

1.1 The International Organization for Standardization ( ISO) is a worldwide

federation of national standards bodies from some 130 countries, one from each country.
The ISO headquarters is located at Geneva, Switzerland. ISO has been developing
voluntary technical standards over almost all sectors of business, industry and
technology since 1947 . With the exception of ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 the other
standards are highly specific.

1.2 ISO standards are developed mainly acsording to the following:

Consensus between manufacturers / suppliers / users / consumer groups I testing

laboratories! governments! engineering professions! research organizations

1.3 ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 in plain language: Both ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are
actually families of standards, which are referred under generic titles for conveniences.
Both families consist of standards and guidelines relating to management systems and
related supporting standards on terminology and specific tools such as auditing ( the
process of checking that the management system confirms to the standard).

ISO 9000 is primarily concerned with quality management. Like beauty eyeryone may
have his or her idea of what quality is. Therefore in plain language the standardized
definition of quality in ISO 9000 refers to all those features of a product that are required
by the customer. Quality management means what the organization does to ensure that its
products conform to the customer's requirements.

ISO 14000 is primarily concerned with" environment management" This means what
the organization does to minimize harmful effects on the environment caused by its
acti\ities.

Both ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 are about the way an organization manages its processes.

International Environment Law

The recent judicial intervention surrounding the defacement of Himalayan rocks by

PEPSI / MBD BOOKS and COKE and also the public and government campaign W.r.t
the Hindustan Lever factory manufacturing thermometers ( and depositing poisonous
\\'astes ) underscores the necessity to understand the International principles of

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Environment Law in view of businesses / investment moving across national frontiers.

2.1 Foremost among the norn1S is Principle 21 of the 1972 Stockholm Declaration '.'n
the Human Environment is that states have the sovereign right to exploit their o\\-n
resources pursuant to their own environment policies and the res~Dnsibility to
ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the
environm\..l1t of other states or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction.

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.-\nothcr norm is the' duty of a state to noti fy and consult other states when an
operation is !ikely to harm the environment of other states. The state is also
c'\pected hi monitor and assess emironmemal conditions and rep0l1.
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_.j. A guarantee in the domestic constitutions that all citizens have a right to decent
and healthy environment.

2.4 "Polluter pays ;1ril"iciple,- that is Polluters to bear the costs of remedy I cleanup
.T;"le Suprelllc COUl1 in India has adopted this principle in India as
well.(Pepsi/MBD etc..)

2.5 "Precautionary Principle" that is a duty to foresee and assess environmemal

risks, to warn potential victims of such risks.

2.6 Environment Impact Assessment that is to balance economic benefits with

environment costs.

2.7 Principle of Sustainable Development that is "using living resources in a manner

that .. does not exceed their natural capacity for regeneration and using natural
resources in a manner which ensures the preservation of the species and
ecosystems for the benefit of future generations"

2.8 Principle of Intergenerational equity maintains that the present generation has a
moral right to maintain the environment for the future generations.

2.9 Principle of common but different responsibilities places the lead on develop~d
countries to ensure environment sustenance.