In a review of an earlier volume of the Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law ((2017) 21.3 Edin LR 455–456) my conclusion was that the book was “very useful”. This fourth volume in the series is even more successful and has immediately earned a place on my reading lists for students. Compared to earlier volumes it is shorter (260 pages of text), has a narrower focus and in each of the nineteen chapters the authors have more consciously set out to provide an overview of their topic, drawing together the leading literature and providing comparative insights from a range of jurisdictions. There is thus, in a very positive way, more of a textbook feel about each chapter which makes this book an excellent source for anyone wanting to know about the broad subject encompassed by its title, whether as an introductory overview or a springboard to deeper analysis.
As in the earlier volumes of the Encyclopedia, the contributors (in this case from the USA, Canada, Australia and the Netherlands) have only about a dozen pages to address their subject, drawn from topics ranging from self-policing through enforcement strategies, the use of the civil law and corporate liability to monitoring and measuring compliance. They succeed admirably in distilling a wealth of evidence, literature and experience to provide clear explanations and deep insights into the challenges facing all aspects of making environmental laws effective in practice. The authors are aware of their wide audience so that even when some chapters are rooted in a particular jurisdiction, they both explain any specificities and place their discussion in a broader comparative context, drawing wider lessons from national experience.
A virtue of the book is that its focus is on compliance, not just regulatory enforcement. Thus it begins with discussions of self-policing and environmental management systems before moving on to issues affecting more direct forms of regulation and concludes with consideration of how the effectiveness of deterrence and overall compliance can be measured. For those seeking a quick introduction into the big ideas which have shaped thinking about enforcement, Neil Gunningham provides an admirable summary of the discussions on deterrence and compliance strategies and on responsive and smart regulation, supported by Cameron Holley and Darren Sinclair who consider how such strategies affect the where, how, who and why of enforcement. Taking a different approach, Michelle T Sanders and...
