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    Jamaican Environment Authorities Make a Point

    Saturday, August 8th, 2009

    From National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA): The National Environment and Planning Agency, NEPA, has been successful in its court action against Ms. Natalie Hutchinson, for breaching the Natural Resources Conservation Authority Act. Ms. Hutchinson was charged under Section 9 of the Act for operating a petroleum storage and stockpiling facility without an Environmental Permit. […]

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    Update: Colombian Government Finally Gets Its Eco-Teeth

    Thursday, July 23rd, 2009

    Nearly a year ago I posted about the environmental sanctions law approved by Colombia’s congress.  What I didn’t know at the time of posting was that a week later the Executive Branch would raise formal objections to the law — essentially an attempt at a line-item veto. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies refused in […]

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    Still Possible to Challenge Projects on Environmental Grounds in Trinidad

    Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

    Just read an interesting article in IPS News about the latest development in community efforts in Trinidad to stop plans for two aluminum smelters on the island.  Trinidad’s High Court quashed the Environmental Management Authority’s (EMA) grant of a Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) for the construction by Alutrint of a smelter in La Brea. […]

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    Trinidad and Tobago Has Environmental Police Again

    Monday, May 18th, 2009

    From the Environment Management Authority (EMA): EMA Welcomes New Environmental Police Unit (EPU) The fight against environmental violations continues as the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) welcomed twelve (12) new Special Reserve Police Officers to perform full-time duties. At an orientation and training workshop on Monday May 18th, 2009, EMA’s Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Joth Singh welcomed […]

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    Public Ministry Can Investigate

    Saturday, March 14th, 2009

    Synopsis in English: Brazil’s Supreme Court has confirmed that under the 1988 Constitution, the Public Ministry has the power to conduct criminal investigations.  The power had been challenged through a direct action of unconstitutionality (ação direta de inconstitucionalidade – ADIN). Desde o Ministério Público (MP) do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul: Ministério Público pode […]

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    Judges Agree: LAC Bench Needs Jurists Better Prepared for Environment Cases

    Sunday, January 25th, 2009

    The Fifth World Forum of Judges just concluded against the backdrop of the annual World Social Forum (WSF) in Belem, Brazil.  Since the site of this year’s WSF, Belem, sits at the mouth of the Amazon River, the Judges Forum prominently featured sessions on the role of the bench in protecting the Amazon. The Judges […]

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    Guatemala Launches Environmental Enforcement Effort

    Saturday, January 24th, 2009

    Guatemala, like so many Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) nations, has many environmental rules on the books that more often than not are honored in the breach rather than with compliance. By the count of its Environment and Natural Resources Ministry (MARN), Guatemala already has on the books some 3,500 norms of various levels (primary, […]

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    RS Court Creates Special Chambers for Environment Cases

    Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

    The state court system of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul (TJRS) has decided to create special chambers, one civil and one criminal, to handle cases involving environmental law.  The Court will now look into what schooling/training to require for judges serving in the chamber.  The move had been requested in a […]

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    Update: Colombian Eco-Authorities Now Have Sharp Teeth?

    Friday, August 8th, 2008

    Last year I did a post about Colombia’s Environment Minister, Juan Lozano Ramírez, calling upon that country’s Senate to finally give environmental authorities “teeth” — a true, tough environmental sanctions regime. Proposals for such a law had been before the national legislature for years (Lozano says it’s been decades). A few weeks ago the legislature […]

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    Environment Provisions in LAC Constitutions Added to Tools Section

    Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007

    A slightly abbreviated version of my post on environmental provisions in the federal and sub-federal constitutions in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) has now been added as a standalone page in the Temas Tool section (check the Tools directory in the righthand column). It includes links to the relevant portions of each constitution, including […]

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