ABSTRACT
This part of the chapter examines the evolution and progressive development of general principles of law intrinsic to environmental protection, at the international, European and domestic levels.
It may be argued that the development of environmental law reflects the practical application of underlying general principles of law which have evolved in tandem with rising concern over environmental degradation, and the real and potential threats of such degradation for the survival of humankind. Hughes, for example, notes that a simplistic description of this relationship would view it as existing on three levels: the application of specific rules based on accepted general principles, which in turn reflect certain ethical values deemed important enough to be protected. He argues, however, that a better view is that there exists a dynamic relationship between rules, principles and ethics both as to the formulation of the law and as to its implementation and enforcement (Hughes (1996) 15).
