Making Law Matter

by Mcallister, Lesley K.

• ISBN13: 9780804758239
• ISBN10: 0804758239
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-30
• Publisher: Stanford Law & Politics

Summary

Although many developing countries have environmental statutes, regulations, and resolutions on the books, these laws are rarely enforced and often ignored.Making Law Matterpresents the first book-length treatment of an innovative prosecutorial institution, the Brazilian Ministrio Publico, which refashioned itself in the 1980s into a powerful defender of citizen rights in environmental protection, as well as in other areas of public interest such as disability rights, consumer protection, and anticorruption. In Brazil, the offices of prosecutors and courts have become an important forum for resolving environmental conflicts, making environmental law more effective than in the past. Court involvement communicates the end of impunity for violators. It increases the accountability of governmental agencies and provides legal access for citizen complaints. In short, it enhances environmental rule of law. As developing countries continue to seek to reform their legal systems to strengthen democracy and the rule of law, the Brazilian Ministrio Publico must be recognized as a very promising model.

Author Biography

Lesley K. McAllister is Associate Professor at the University of San Diego School of Law and Assistant Adjunct Professor at the University of California, San Diego, School of International Relations and Pacific Studies.

Table of Contents

Illustrations and Tables
Preface
Abbreviations
Environmental Protection and the Rule of Law	p. 1
Strong Laws, Weak Agencies	p. 20
Becoming Environmental Prosecutors	p. 57
Confronting Impunity	p. 85
Making Agencies Accountable	p. 121
Making Justice Accessible	p. 152
Effective Enforcement: Brazil and Beyond	p. 178
Notes	p. 199
Bibliography	p. 237
Index	p. 257
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