Disaster Law

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Can the ECHR Encompass the Transnational and Intertemporal Dimensions of Climate Harm?

The irreversible harm caused by greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) transcends national borders and time, challenging traditional concepts of law. In this blog post, we discuss the applicability of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to these overarching consequences of climate change, based on new reports issued by the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) and the Norwegian NHRI. It is well established that the ECHR does not, as such, guarantee a right to a “clean and quiet environment” (Hatton, para. 96). The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is also yet to pronounce on the applicability of Convention rights to mitigate climate harm. It will have occasion to do so, should any of the two complaints from Portugal and Switzerland currently fast-tracked in Strasbourg, or a recent complaint from Norway, surmount the significant procedural hurdles they face (discussed here, here and here). Meanwhile, cases concerning…

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Editorial – A Modest Proposal on Zoom Teaching

No preliminaries are necessary here. One result of Covid-19 has been a shift to online teaching by Zoom (or similar platforms). In some law faculties all teaching is online. In most faculties most teaching is online with some hybrid teaching, and in a few (privileged) places in-person teaching remains viable. It is also a commonplace that…

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The Legal Duty to Cooperate amid COVID-19: A Missed Opportunity?

  The unprecedented effects of COVID-19 have encouraged cooperation and commitment among different States to fight the pandemic and combat its socio-economic impacts. For example, on April 2, the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution calling for ‘intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat the pandemic’, while the G20 had earlier…

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Zooming Through the Bad Times

Zoom government? Zoom Security Council? Zoombombing and trolls? Here's some Ella Fitzgerald and the prescient Gershwins on zooming through the bad times, to help lighten your day:…

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I Will Survive, Coronavirus version

This man deserves a medal.

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