Chapter 6 Greening the Bench in Indonesia

From Certification to Environmental Courts?

In: Environmental Courts and Tribunals in Asia-Pacific
Author:
Agung Wardana
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Type:
Chapter
Pages:
152–184
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004695863_007

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Abstract

The role of courts has become more demanding in the Anthropocene. Due to the weaknesses of the traditional judicial system in handling complex environmental cases, the establishment of environmental courts and tribunals has been seen, at least by some countries and commentators, as a solution for delivering environmental justice effectively, as well as for addressing the continuous encroachment into the Earth’s ecological boundaries. Indonesia is not an exception in this regard. A public demand to establish an environmental court system after the fall of the authoritarian regime was eventually deflected into creating an environmental certification system for judges. This chapter aims to discuss the attempt to green the bench in Indonesia through an environmental training and certification model and examine court decisions served by the panel of certified judges. The result of this model in the context of climate litigation is rather mixed. In some cases, environmental training and certification appears to contribute to the ability of judges in crafting environmental law’s doctrines and principles in their decisions. However, in the other cases, especially lawsuits filed by environmental organisations, affected communities, and concerned citizens, court decisions do not seem to adequately articulate environmental law reasoning and sensibilities toward sustainability and environmental justice. As a result, a special environmental court has been proposed to replace the current model. Considering Indonesia as a country that is heavily dependent on a resource extraction-based economy, such a proposal must first navigate the challenging legal and political-economic structure to have better chances of delivering environmental justice.

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Environmental Courts and Tribunals in Asia-Pacific

Best Practices, Challenges and the Way Forward

Series:  Brill's Asian Law Series, Volume: 13
Cover Environmental Courts and Tribunals in Asia-Pacific
E-Book ISBN:
9789004695863
Publisher:
Brill | Nijhoff
Print Publication Date:
30 Oct 2024

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