رحمت الله فرخی

There has ever been a conflict between economic interests and environmental considerations. This conflict is more eminent in the legal system of the European Union (EU). EU was founded mainly for economic integration and the elimination of trade barriers, but other issues especially the environment were gradually placed in the organization's objectives. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the EU judicial body that guarantees the interpretation and implementation of EU treaties. This paper, with qualitative study and outcome analysis of several environmental cases in the European Court of Justice, following the analysis of the Court's work on the issue of conflict and the creation of a balance between these two areas has ultimately achieved a solution to this conflict. The ECJ uses tools such as the preliminary reference procedure, the infringement procedure, discriminatory test and the proportionality principle to address these challenges. Although the ECJ still urges on the economic principles of the EU, it can be concluded from its case law that the proportion of environmental measures may alter these principles.

Cultures and great religions constitute pillars of the global human civilization, owing to their rich values, each of them instituted principles at a specific point in history or across the ages, originating from human nature which contributed to the common heritage worldwide. In fact, the world civilization is the melting pot of the fundamental principles inherent in influential cultures and civilizations. Hence, the values such as justice, peace, human solidarity and fundamental human rights form part of common heritage. Being the building blocks of the human civilization, however, the different cultural and religious disciplines have an inherent right to preserve and develop their own principles within the common whole. This is the principle of respect for cultural diversity within the universality of human rights. Not paying attention to cultural differences are the main causes of many tensions and unrest and even armed conflicts. The question is, how much emphasis is placed, beside the universality of human rights, on the issue of cultural diversity and respect for it, and how does this relate to peace and security? This article, by examining different aspects of the subject, has tried to study the necessity of normative respect for cultural diversity in the world as one of the ways to help global peace. The outcome of this article is based on the fact that the observance of cultural diversity and its enhancement will have a significant impact on global peace and security and the international organizations such as the United Nations, the Non-aligned Movement and the OIC should develop ex ante strategies and mechanisms to promote respect of cultural diversity as effective and pervasive tools to make a better world to live.

Every year we witness thousands of natural disasters in various countries. Each of countries has responded to these events with their own systems. This event shows how a disaster affects countries from different regions, with distinctive forms of government and with diverse legal frameworks. Nevertheless, each country can learn from the other in order to improve the legal system. Experience of terrible hurricanes like Sandy and Katrina in the United States as well as dreadful and detrimental earthquakes of Roodbar and Bam in Iran tells the truth of the claim that the two countries are accident-prone in the world. Each of which has its own political and legal systems in order to respond to the natural disasters. Comparative studies of the regulations of the two countries in the field of disaster risk management and declaration of disaster can be useful in finding the weakness points of regulations of Iran and fulfill the purpose of the regulations i.e. better risk management of disasters and thus reduction of casualties and losses caused by it and better ensuring of the rights of affected people.

European Court of Justice (ECJ) is the judicial body of the European Union (EU). Since its founding in 1952, ECJ has always played a prominent role in the development of the EU law. What has been studied in this article is the role of ECJ in transition of the EU law from duality (between national law of member states and EU law) to legal monism with the superiority of EU law. In implementation of its effective role, the ECJ has utilized different instruments such as Interpretation of EU law under the preliminary rulings, addressing the infringements of the EU law, recognizing the general principles of law in the form of case law, and also the principle of proportionality of regulations and domestic politics to promote the position of EU law in relation to municipal law of member states. This research partly reveals the process of EU legal integration, through the study of the ECJ case law.

On 23 October 2000 The European Union (EU) ratified a directive so called Water Framework Directive which is the latest change and development in European water policy and has a framework and holistic approach in water resources management and combating with water environment issues. Not only does it provide for the setting of environmental quality objectives for water, it also contains provisions regarding the administrative organization and obligations on Member states to manage water use. The member states are obliged to take measures to achieve a general water quality of good status. The necessity of this research is based upon the importance of environmental matters and issues in European countries and also the jurisdictional extension of the EU in regulating environmental affairs as well as the role of actions of European developed states in motivating developing states to protect environment and transpose international environmental rules effectively. The minimum understanding of the nature of WFD is that, it can be effective to achieve its goals. However for evaluating its practical function it is also necessary to analyze national law of the member states.

On 3 February 2012, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) reached to conclusion in the Jurisdictional Immunity of the State (the case of Germany versus Italy). This recourse as stated by Germany in its application was the only remedy available to Germany in its quest to put a halt to the unlawful practice of the Italian courts, which infringed its sovereign rights by repeatedly disregarding the jurisdictional immunity of Germany as a sovereign State. In this judgement, the ICJ studied several aspects of the customary rule of state immunity and stated that the Italian Republic has violated its obligations to respect the immunity which the Federal Republic of Germany enjoys under international law by allowing civil claims to be brought against it based on violations of international humanitarian law committed by the German Reich, taking measures of constraint against German State property situated in Italian territory (Villa Vigoni) and declaring enforceable in Italy decisions of Greek courts based on violations of international humanitarian law committed in Greece by the German Reich. This article tries to discuss the various aspects of this judgement from a critical viewpoint.