Abstract
This chapter addresses an institutional component of environmental law by undertaking a comparative analysis of specialist environmental courts and tribunals (ECTs) in jurisdictions around the world. Adopting a functionalist approach, it analyses ECTs from three perspectives, comparing their underlying legal authorisation and jurisdictional reach, ability to promote access to justice, and scope for creative environmental problem-solving. The chapter does not support the assumption that the establishment of an ECT automatically improves access to environmental justice, either substantively or procedurally. Rather, it concludes that the specific constitution, functions, and powers of the body, and the relevant legal culture in which it operates, heavily influence the ability of individual ECTs to adjudicate environmental disputes with efficiency and integrity.