Chief Justice terms right to life basic principle of environmental justice

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry on Saturday said that the Constitution of Pakistan does not articulate the issue of environmental protection and preservation in any of its provisions.

He was addressing the inaugural session of a two-day “South Asia Conference on Environmental Justice” in Bhurban. He said that the superior courts of Pakistan have interpreted “right to life” in Article 9 of the Constitution, thus the right to life is the most basic principle of environmental justice.

He stated that the protection of environment, socio-economic development, safeguarding human rights and strengthening democratic institutions are the core values of every society.

He said that no environmental plans could achieve their objectives without mobilizing the public opinion and a wake up call to the stakeholders.

“What is really required from the concerned authorities of Pakistan is to have an overview of environmental law from all the three perspectives i.e. international, sub-regional and national”, he stated.

He said that the South Asian region is highly vulnerable to the extreme climate changes and hydro-meteorological disasters like flash floods, monsoon flooding, tropical cyclones and storm surges.

“Our future generations must not bear the cost of our exploitation and mismanagement of environmental issues; rather we have to mitigate the environmental damage for the survival of the generations to come”, he said.

He said that the objective of sustainable development could be achieved through consultation on national policies and sustained commitment on the part of SAARC countries.

He lauded the efforts of ADB and International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for conserving the environment and highlighting environmental issues nationally and internationally are highly commendable.

“The role of print and electronic media is also laudable, as much of the credit of the relief provided by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in suo moto actions goes to them”, he said.

The Chief Justice said that the urbanization, unplanned and ill-structured constructions, increased industrialization, poor sewerage systems, illegal brick kilns and crusher machines on privately owned lands, deforestation, damage to wildlife and mountain ranges and particularly the lack of will towards improvement are also some other factors obstructing the development of environmental law.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Mar 24 2012. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.