INVESTIGATING ECONOMIC EFFICIENCY AS A RULE IN ENVIRONMENTAL INJUNCTIONS

Back to Page Authors: Kalpana Murari

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Keywords: injunction jurisprudence, economic efficiency, resource efficiency, resource management

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Abstract: Environmental injunctions are given on the evidence before the court and very few judges in developing countries have a thorough knowledge of the implications of an injunction order in matters relating to natural resources and sustainable development. An injunction order in cases relating to environmental damage needs to also look at the economic efficiency of a particular activity and conform to norms of resource efficiency. There is a need to standardize the criteria in issuing such blanket orders of an injunction and follow up of such orders till the act of breach has been set right and natural resources so exploited are restored or replenished. So, what does an environmental injunction order entail? How should judges who issue such orders in developing countries award such orders without really destroying businesses that indulge in environmental crimes? A comparative review of recent case laws and norms set by courts in the United States and in India to help bridge the gap in injunction jurisprudence and reiterate the need for some harmonization in the list of criteria to be assessed before injunction orders are passed in matters relating to the environment and natural resource management.

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