Project Detail

Toward the Designation of Green Benches in the Philippines

To be able to come up with a good basis for the Chief Justice's designation of green benches, a good database should be available. To accomplish this, literature survey and data gatheing from other NGOs working on environmental law will be obtained. These NGOs are Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC), Tanggol Kalikasan, The Law of Nature Foundation and other goups. Information form these organizations will be completed with information that is with the OCA. Three dedicated staff from PhilJa and OCA will work on desaggregating the current information that OCA has on environmental cases filed throughout the country as well as the information from the other NGOs. An information technology (IT) person shall also be on board should there be any assistance required to facilitate the data capture, retrieval and disaggregation. Haribon will provide a briefing on the kind of information that will be generated to the project staff. Within 2-3 months, the result will be disaggregated data from the OCA database and other NGOs. This will be contained in a concept paper that will be prepared for the Chief Justice's reference and eventual decision for designation.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

HARIBON Foundation for the Conservation of Natural Resources

Country:

Philippines

Area Of Work:

Multifocal Area

Operational Phase:

Phase 3

Grant Amount:

US$ 3,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 6,225.68

Project Number:

PHI/141/06

Start Date:

4/2007

End Date:

6/2007

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Notable Community Participation

A meeting with other stakeholders involving the Supreme Court, Philippine Judicial Academy, Office of the Court Administrator (OCA), Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), other relevant NGOs and the donor will be held. In this meeting, challenging areas in terms of problematic cases and in some instances, judges, will be discussed. An initial identification of where the green courts will be designated will also be undertaken.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

As indicated, the project's output is the designation of selected courts as environmental courts based on the information generated. The potential outcome of this project will be the benefits that will arise from a better informed judiciary that will be able to address local environmental situations. In the long-run, such decisions made by the judiciary may address poverty reduction but will certainly empower communities particularly in community-based resource management and governance.

Capacity - Building Component

The enhanced database will benefit the OCA and may be used as a model for future data disaggregation of specific cases in the future. On the other hand, the concept paper that will be produced by the project will serve as a working document for the designation of green courts and can be used as an advocacy tool.

Policy Impact

The general objective of the project is to contribute to the better managemetn of resources and empowerment of local communities. Specifically, it will lead to the designation of green courts based on sound information retrieved and disaggregated from the OCA database.

Gender Focus

The project will identify a project team that will have as much as possible gender balance to promote a more active role for women. Prudence in terms of project expenses will be observed at all times to effect sustainable consumption patterns during project implementation. This will be done through the preparation of detailed plans that take into consideration the most economic means to complete quality deliiverables.

Project Results

Effects: Data disaggregation of environmental cases is the last and most significant step that will aid the Chief Justice in deciding and determining what courts will be designated as environmental. An effect of the project will be an enhanced database on environmental law cases that will benefit the OCA in the long term. The designation of green courts will be seen as a big step towards biodiversity consrvation as another sector of the society formally becomes part of this advocacy. Amother effect may be the enchanced enforcement of environmental laws due to the designation of green courts.
Impact: The impact of the project on the environment is a more effective judiciary. This will hopefully result in judgments or decisions that will consider the importance of the environment in the context of the implementation of the law. This may better encourage local stakeholders to be better managers of the environment as they will see a receptive judiciary.

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