| With the growth of energy consumption,natural gas pipelines,cross-border hydropower projects and nuclear projects are increasing.while these projects are likely to cause persistent and serious damage to the atmosphere,soil,and maritime environment,cross-border environmental pollution and damage incidents have become increasingly serious.Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment(TEIA),as one of the mechanisms to prevent transboundary environmental impact,requires a country to conduct it before implementing activities that may affect the surrounding environment.The activities of a country within its jurisdiction should respect other countries and try not to beyond the control of a country.Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessments are accepted by more and more countries because their purpose is not to increase environmental protection,but to focus on improving decision-making with environmental impact.In order to explore the latest developments in International Environmental Law and the prospects of TEIA in China,this article selects the International Court of Justice’s " Construction of a Road in Costa Rica Along the San Juan River" judgement for evaluation.This article is divided into five parts except the introduction.The first part briefly summarizes the facts,main controversies and the main points of the judgment in the case of Nicaragua v.Costa Rica on construction of a road in Costa Rica along the San Jua river.The second section provides a brief overview of TEIA.The third part analyzes the international customary law attributes of TEIA.International customary law is a legally binding result of countries repeating similar acts.Starting from the United States,countries have successively established their own EIA systems.International conventions such as the "Epos Convention" have required TEIA,the international judicial institutions have continuously proposed,repeated and verified TEIA.Therefore,the author believes that TEIA has the properties of international customary law and should be an international customary law.Combining with the judgment of the International Court of Justice in this case that Costa Rica has the obligation of TEIA,the author believes that the International Court of Justice has further determined the customary status of TEIA.The fourth part analyzes the impact of domestic emergency law on the international obligations of TEIA.The author discusses the relationship between international law and domestic law,analyzes the conditions for exemption from international obligations in a state of emergency,and cites similar cases.It is concluded that a country should consciously accept the constraints of international treaties and international customs,Invoking a state of emergency should meet strict prerequisites.Therefore,combined with the judgment of the International Court of Justice in this case,the author believes that Costa Rica cannot invoke domestic emergency law to exempt its international obligation of TEIA.The fifth part analyzes the time points(“start and end time”)of TEIA.This article refers to the international determinations of the start and end time of the TEIA,combined with the opinion of the International Court of Justice in this case,to clarify the time point of conducting the TEIA,that is,the obligation is continuous,not only to conduct a pre-assessment of the risk of major transboundary damage if necessary,the environmental impact of the project should be monitored throughout the project ’s life cycle.According to the relevant facts provided by Costa Rica,Costa Rica has not fulfilled its TEIA obligations.The sixth part puts forward suggestions for refining the relevant provisions of China’s EIA Law and judicial practice,and believes that China should actively sign regional TEIA treaties;build a TEIA committee;introduce the principle of proportionality into the EIA in an emergency. |
