Turkey is actively involved in many global and regional initiatives and various
organizations particularly affiliated to the UN and the EU, as well as numerous
others.
As IEL is a subset of international law, its sources include treaties (Art. 2.1(a),
VCLT), custom, general principles, judicial decisions
3 and juristic writings (Art. 38,
ICJ Statute). Of those, treaties require further attention under IEL, because environmental treaties form an important part of it.
In order to identify the status of international environmental treaties under
Turkish Environmental Law, it is essential to refer to the last paragraph of Article
90, 1982 Constitution, which states: “International agreements duly put into effect
have the force of law. No appeal to the Constitutional Court shall be made with
regard to these agreements, on the grounds that they are unconstitutional.”
That means that international environmental treaties duly put into effect have the
force of law under the hierarchy of norms, and so become part of domestic law.
The same paragraph also states that: “In the case of a conflict between international agreements, duly put into effect, concerning fundamental rights and freedoms and the laws due to differences in provisions on the same matter, the
provisions of international agreements shall prevail.”
So, if the environmental treaty involves fundamental rights and freedoms – even
though the right of environment is not directly incorporated into many international
environmental treaties, the ones involving provisions on the protection and
development of the environment can be broadly interpreted as being indirectly
related to the right of environment (Güneş, 2015: 365) – its provisions take
precedence over domestic laws consisting of different provisions on the same
matter.
In brief, then, Turkey’s attitude towards international environmental treaties
affects its domestic law as well. Its choice to accede to the treaty has a direct
influence on domestic law.
Turkey has become party to nearly all key treaties which address different
environmental problems. It signed the Paris Agreement on 22 April 2016 following
the Paris Climate Conference (COP-21) in December 2015,
4 and became a party to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 24
May 2004 and to the Kyoto Protocol on 26 August 2009. Even though it has not been
included in the Annex B Countries of the Protocol because of its special circumstances and is therefore not obliged to reduce emissions during the first commitment
period (2008–2012), through the Paris Agreement it has promised to decrease its
3
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has considered relatively few cases with environmental
aspects, but, for the first time, reached a decision on an issue particularly relevant to environmental
problems in the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dams Case (1997). Even though, contrary to expectations,
it failed to determine what the concepts and principles of environmental law are, and there is no
applicable treaty provision on this issue, it assessed the principle of sustainable development as a
general principle of international law (IL).
4
For the list of signatories and parties of the Paris Climate Agreement see at: https://treaties.un.org/
pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-7-d&chapter=27&lang=en.
40
Z. Savaşan
organizations particularly affiliated to the UN and the EU, as well as numerous
others.
As IEL is a subset of international law, its sources include treaties (Art. 2.1(a),
VCLT), custom, general principles, judicial decisions
3 and juristic writings (Art. 38,
ICJ Statute). Of those, treaties require further attention under IEL, because environmental treaties form an important part of it.
In order to identify the status of international environmental treaties under
Turkish Environmental Law, it is essential to refer to the last paragraph of Article
90, 1982 Constitution, which states: “International agreements duly put into effect
have the force of law. No appeal to the Constitutional Court shall be made with
regard to these agreements, on the grounds that they are unconstitutional.”
That means that international environmental treaties duly put into effect have the
force of law under the hierarchy of norms, and so become part of domestic law.
The same paragraph also states that: “In the case of a conflict between international agreements, duly put into effect, concerning fundamental rights and freedoms and the laws due to differences in provisions on the same matter, the
provisions of international agreements shall prevail.”
So, if the environmental treaty involves fundamental rights and freedoms – even
though the right of environment is not directly incorporated into many international
environmental treaties, the ones involving provisions on the protection and
development of the environment can be broadly interpreted as being indirectly
related to the right of environment (Güneş, 2015: 365) – its provisions take
precedence over domestic laws consisting of different provisions on the same
matter.
In brief, then, Turkey’s attitude towards international environmental treaties
affects its domestic law as well. Its choice to accede to the treaty has a direct
influence on domestic law.
Turkey has become party to nearly all key treaties which address different
environmental problems. It signed the Paris Agreement on 22 April 2016 following
the Paris Climate Conference (COP-21) in December 2015,
4 and became a party to
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on 24
May 2004 and to the Kyoto Protocol on 26 August 2009. Even though it has not been
included in the Annex B Countries of the Protocol because of its special circumstances and is therefore not obliged to reduce emissions during the first commitment
period (2008–2012), through the Paris Agreement it has promised to decrease its
3
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has considered relatively few cases with environmental
aspects, but, for the first time, reached a decision on an issue particularly relevant to environmental
problems in the Gabcikovo-Nagymaros Dams Case (1997). Even though, contrary to expectations,
it failed to determine what the concepts and principles of environmental law are, and there is no
applicable treaty provision on this issue, it assessed the principle of sustainable development as a
general principle of international law (IL).
4
For the list of signatories and parties of the Paris Climate Agreement see at: https://treaties.un.org/
pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=TREATY&mtdsg_no=XXVII-7-d&chapter=27&lang=en.
40
Z. Savaşan