What is it about?
The New Zealand Environment Court is one of the oldest environment Courts and tribunals ("ECTs") in the world at nearly 100 years, counting in its predecessor bodies. The Court is an independent judicial body with a wide jurisdictional remit, employing responsive innovative processes to facilitate public participation. While praised internationally for promoting access to environmental justice, political commitment to using the court to resolve environmental and planning challenges has wavered over time. The chapter provides a comprehensive account of the legal character of the court; its origins; its current powers, functions and processes to foster access to environmental justice; and legislative changes in recent years to introduce new institutional forms to address particular types of environmental issues in alternative fora.
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Why is it important?
The chapter describes the progress of the court in sufficient detail to explain why it has attracted international praise for the ways in which it has continued to innovate to enable good access to environmental justice through the processing of polycentric cases (multi-issue and often multi-party) involving intersection of legal principles and science in many branches, usually requiring forward analysis of likely future states and risks. At the same time, and while it is an independent arm of government, it is a creature of statute and has been subject to legislative changes over time by various government administrations.
Perspectives
The chapter was written in 2023 at a time when the New Zealand Government was promulgating new environmental legislation strengthening some aspects of the court's work but removing or diluting others. During the editorial phase prior to publication, there was a general election that produced a change of government. The new administration swiftly repealed the new legislation, restoring the (much-amended) Resource Management Act 1991 but foreshadowing major future legislative changes potentially reshaping access to environmental justice. Attention is drawn to the chapter's final footnote (157) containing an addendum by the authors describing such prospective changes to the extent they were then understood.
Laurie Newhook
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This page is a summary of: The New Zealand Environment Court, October 2024, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004695863_005.
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