Application of Sectorial Principles of International Environmental Law for Systemic Interpretation of Norms of Economic and Environmental Treaties

Abstract

Recently, there has been a dynamic growth in the conclusion of international treaties regulating international environmental and economic relations. For example, the practice of the UN International Court of Justice, the WTO Dispute Settlement Body, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is clear evidence that cases involving environmental issues have been linked in one way or another to international economic relations. This fact confirms the interconnectedness of economic and environmental state interests. Thus, it becomes infeasible to settle disputes without taking these groups into account. It is worth noting that it is systematic interpretation that can be considered as one of the legal mechanisms for translating the concept of sustainable development into action. Proceeding from the ideological content of systemic integration, the author of the present article, on the basis of doctrinal research and practice of international judicial institutions, analyses four sectoral principles of international environmental law for the effectiveness of their use in the framework of systematic interpretation in five interstate proceedings, because despite their sectoral nature, they have formed into international custom. Thus, these environmental principles are a norm within the meaning of article 31, paragraph 3 (c), of the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, which in its turn may be applicable to the interpretation of, inter alia, international treaties governing international economic relations.