Abstract

The presenters are all linked to the Centre for Sustainable Futures based at the University of Plymouth, United Kingdom. This paper examines the role that the concept of sustainable development has taken in shaping the decisions of the Supreme Courts of a number of Commonwealth countries around the world. It builds upon earlier research, which identified the extent of overt statements of aspiration relating to sustainable development in international legal instruments and then considered the extent to which these were then assimilated by the higher judiciary as key stakeholders. It draws on analysis of the judgments of the courts and on a number of interviews undertaken by the authors of the paper with Supreme Court level judges since 2006. It reveals some significant insights relating to the attitude, perception and knowledge of Supreme Courts judges to sustainable development, including the marked difference of interpretation and centrality of the issue. The authors will put forward some possible hypotheses for this and some key proposals to judicial policy makers.