- Bruce Rich
- Environmental Forum
- May-June 2018
- p. 34.
Specialized environmental courts have proliferated around the world, growing from 350 in 2009 to over 1,200 in 44 countries by 2017. This growth is a response to increasing environmental litigation, as well as to failures in traditional legal systems in handling cases in an expedient and equitable way. Environmental tribunals have become especially significant in Australia, New Zealand, and some developing nations such as India, in contrast to the United States and Europe, where environmental law has mostly remained under the jurisdiction of existing courts. India’s National Green Tribunal is an innovative court that is handling a huge case load and issuing landmark decisions...the NGT faces opposition for the simple reason that it is working. Its future is important for environmental justice and effective international environmental law not just in India, but worldwide.
