Full Description
This timely book examines the increasing pressure on courts to protect underrepresented matters of public interest at the risk of political reprisals. Rob van Gestel provides critical insights into the role of courts amidst the escalating global trend of the judicialization of politics due to ineffective government legislatures. The book illustrates that courts cannot avoid policy-making in public interest cases, and demonstrates that the legitimacy of judicial lawmaking in these instances extends beyond a correct interpretation of the law.
Chapters explore the different strategies used by judges across jurisdictions in Europe, the USA, India and South Africa to legitimize their decisions in contentious public interest cases. He discusses a number of global landmark cases, including the Urgenda Climate Case in the Netherlands and the Treatment Action Campaign Case on the prevention of HIV transmissions in South Africa.
NGOs and lawyers engaging in public research litigation will greatly benefit from this insightful book, as will scholars who are interested in methods of judicial lawmaking. This book will also be a vital resource for judges, students and political scientists alike.
Contents
Contents
Preface
1 Public interest litigation
2 Judicialization of politics or politicization of the judiciary?
3 Racial desegregation in American public schools: parents
involved in community schools v. Seattle School District
No. 1 (PICS)
4 The Urgenda climate case in The Netherlands: the spark
igniting global climate change litigation
5 F v. Bevándorlási és Állampolgársági Hivatal: gay asylum
seekers and the European Court of Justice
6 The Delhi vehicular pollution case: the Indian Supreme
Court battling air pollution
7 The treatment action campaign case on the prevention of
mother-to-child transmission of HIV in South Africa
8 Legitimacy of public interest litigation
