Forum on environmental justice starts today
The Supreme Court will hold a two-day forum on environmental justice and laws starting today at the Iloilo City campus of the University of the Philippines in Visayas.
The forum, supported by the United Nations Development Programme and the first ever of its kind, will be held simultaneously with similar activities at the University of the Cordilleras in Baguio City and at the Ateneo de Davao University in Davao City. These will be connected through video conferencing, according to media advisory.
The forum with the theme “Upholding the Right to a Balanced and Healthful Ecology” is expected to be attended by heads of government agencies, civil-society representatives and members of the judiciary who will sign a Memorandum of Commitment on Environmental Justice.
The activity is also expected to consolidate recommendations on the proposed court rule of procedure for environmental cases.
The forum is seen as among the efforts of the high court to be make the judiciary more responsive to environmental issues which have increasingly grown significant due to global warming and climate change.
The forum is the third conference organized by the Supreme Court which has taken a more active role under the leadership of Chief Justice Reynato Puno.
Puno had earlier initiated a national consultation on extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances which led to the issuance of the writs of amparo and habeas data.
The high court had also convened a forum on increasing access to justice for the poor which led to the new measures including the setting up of mobile courts and the mandatory free legal assistance service from new lawyers.