Dispute Avoidance and Dispute Settlement in International Environmental Law: Compilations of Documents

The objective of this Study is to scrutinize and analyse the means and mechanisms found in international environmental law to deal with matters of dispute avoidance and dispute settlement. Further, the Study reviews other areas of international law in order to gain from experiences accumulated in these fields. Although dispute settlement mechanisms have been developed over the past decades in all branches of international law, an increased emphasis on dispute avoidance mechanisms has manifested in recent years. While stressing the importance and complementarity of both dispute avoidance and dispute settlement, the Group felt the need to concentrate to a certain extent its work on dispute avoidance mechanisms. Dispute avoidance and dispute settlement have been found to be mutually supportive in enhancing and promoting implementation of and compliance with international environmental commitments. Both sets of mechanisms pursue the overarching goal of achieving peaceful and cooperative relations in the field of international environmental protection.