• A line of colourfully dressed older women hold a long banner with the words "KlimaSeniorinnen" and "Greenpeace" printed on it.
  • A line of colourfully dressed older women hold a long banner with the words "KlimaSeniorinnen" and "Greenpeace" printed on it.

Climate Litigation

As the focus of my Master of Laws (LLM) I am researching developments in strategic climate litigation. My dissertation examined judicial innovation by the European Court of Human Rights when assessing the 2024 KlimaSeniorinnen judgement. The abstract is below – please contact me for a copy of the full thesis.

JUDICIAL ACTIVISM or
REINFORCEMENT OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY?
The ECtHR’s Role in Strategic Climate Litigation:
An Analysis of the KlimaSeniorinnen Case

The intensifying impacts of climate change have brought the intersection of human rights law and environmental protection to the forefront of international legal discourse. This article critically examines the evolving role of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in addressing climate-related issues, focusing on the landmark case of ‘Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland’. The Court’s judgement – that Switzerland had violated human rights by failing to adequately address climate change – has sparked a debate on whether this ruling is an instance of judicial activism or a necessary evolution in jurisprudence to confront global challenges. The thesis argues that the ‘KlimaSeniorinnen’ judgment is a profound and necessary response to the climate crisis, carefully balancing the ECtHR’s judicial responsibilities with respect for State sovereignty and, ultimately, reinforcing the legitimacy of domestic courts and legislative bodies. The dissertation also engages with John Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance theory and Mari Matsuda’s critique of that theory’s over-idealisation, exploring the inherent challenges of achieving impartiality in judicial decision-making. This critique underscores the argument that the ECtHR’s decision reflects a balanced and essential adaptation of human rights law to contemporary realities, shaped by the cultural and political contexts within which judges operate.

 

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