CYIL vol. 13 (2022)

CYIL 13 ȍ2022Ȏ ENVIRONMENTALIZÁCIA MEDZINÁRODNÉHO PRÁVA VEREJNÉHO… complementary character. J. Jankuv considers the prohibition of damaging the environment beyond the borders of jurisdiction of one state a general principle of law (pp. 78–79), which contains the obligation of states not to use their territory in such a way that would cause a serious damage to the territory of other states or in areas that are under jurisdiction of no state. Some general principles established themselves in the international customary rules. According to the opinion of the reviewer it can be deduced also in the case of Principle 21 which requires the responsibility to ensure that activities within their jurisdiction or control do not cause damage to the environment of other states or of areas beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. As concerns the obligation of states not to cause damage to the environment of a territory which does not fall under national jurisdiction, that is in international space, it is a rather progressive development of the given principle. 2 I am not completely persuaded that all the principles mentioned on p. 85 represent valid rules de lege lata . Particularly the principle of international cooperation in the protection of the environment. This principle does not express a general rule of international law but rather represent a generalization of a number of particular rules in international agreements. For example, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change of 1992, Convention to Combat Desertification of 1994, and a number of other agreements that are mentioned in the monograph prof. Jankuv. Also, the principle of sustainable development is contained in many rules and in various contexts. This principle expresses more of the needs of society and the goals of the protection of the environment and the economic development rather than the principle in the sense of a general postulate (presumption) or principle of behavior as Č Čepelka a P. Šturma 3 reflect. The sustainable development conciliates the requirements of environment protection and that of development. The sub-chapter on liability brings valuable reflections on distinguishing strict and absolute liability (pp. 139-140). The author concludes that the standards of strict liability are less exacting than those of absolute liability. The third chapter contains selected particular parts of the international law of the environment. The protection of human environmental rights is discussed as well as the protection of persons who are forced to emigrate because of environmental reasons, protection of rivers, the sea environment, the protection of Antarctica, the protection of space, and the protection of the environment in the situation of armed conflict. The chapter also contains protection of the environment through the means of international criminal law, the international protection of the air and global atmosphere, the international protection of nature, countryside, and endangered species of plants and animals. In comparison with the authoritative experts on the international law of the environment Boyle, Redgwell 4 the monograph of prof. Jankuv contains for example the protection of the environment of Antarctica, space, or the issue of the protection of the environment during an armed conflict or the protection of the environment through the means of criminal law. By this way the monograph represents a complex view of the international protection of the environment 2 ŠTURMA, P., DAMOHORSKÝ, M., ONDŘEJ, J., ZÁSTĚROVÁ, J., SMOLEK, M. International Environmental Law, part I. Beroun: Eva Rozkotová IFEC, 2004, p. 89. 3 ČEPELKA, Č., ŠTURMA, P. Public International law, 2nd edition. Praha: C. H. Beck, 2018, p. 206. 4 BOYLE, A., REDGWELL, C. Birnie, Boyle and Redgwell´s International Law and the Environment. Fourth edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.

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