نشریه مطالعات نوین حقوق و محیط زیست
پیاپی 1 (تابستان 1402)

Consecutive droughts of the last three decades and the role of government's economic and social policies in harvesting or making artificial changes to natural resources and their misuse. It has caused the destruction of vegetation and as a result the destruction of the earths texture and finally the scattering of dust particles in the sky. In the hot and dry regions of the earth, especially in large areas of the Middle East, has created an acute environmental crisis that has caused numerous damages to the effected communities. Since the last half century, especially since the early 1970s, there have been positive developments in the field of International Environmental Law due to the holding of numerous public conferences which has led to the non-binding declarations but common statements, that have Erga-Omnes and Jus-Cogens rules. In this article, we have decided to examine these rules in a library manner and the basic question of whether it is possible to create a process for governments to commit to some environmental rules based on the responsibility of governments in order to reduce the harmful effects of this phenomenon in the Middle East, the participation of regional governments. The Middle East, especially its southeastern countries, should be explored in order to hold a conference and approve the "Regional Convention to Combat the Dust Crisis in the Middle East".

Anarchy at the global level has caused emphasis on the role of power and the influence of great powers on the developments of the international system, The increasing progress of international law has made the role of great powers in this area ambiguous because international law in its nature tends towards equality, equity, and justice, but great powers seek to dominate power. It is clear that international law prevents the hegemony of great powers by emphasizing the equality of states. Therefore, great powers tend to unilateralism and violate international law to achieve their interests. The aim of the current research is to investigate the consequences of US unilateralism on international law. In this way, this question is raised: What is the effect of American unilateralism in the field of international relations on the field of international law? The hypothesis is that: due to the existence of anarchy, international law needs the support of great powers to be applied, therefore, America's disregard for international law or its instrumental use causes pessimism in other countries and ultimately reduces the legitimacy of legal rules and has a lower degree of enforcement. The findings of the research, obtained by the descriptive-analytical method, show that in practice, although the United States has taken positive actions in the direction of the creation and development of international law, in many cases, such as resorting to force, neglecting obligations and withdrawing from treaties and international institutions, it has caused the violation of international law, discrediting and weakening it.

The environment has been seriously damaged during armed conflicts in recent decades, especially after the human use of modern weapons, including chemical and nuclear weapons. This issue raises the basic question of what is the role of Islamic teachings in preventing or these harms, along with international laws and documents. In this research, which deals with the collection of library-documentary resources related to the environment with a descriptive-analytical method, while reviewing the jurisprudential and legal rules related to the preservation of the environment during armed conflicts, their capability and role in protecting the environment during armed conflicts and finally it comes to the conclusion that there is a complete convergence between international law and Islamic rules in the field of environmental protection in armed conflicts and for this reason the international community can reduce these damages. International community may take advantage of the capacity of Islamic teachings in prohibiting environmental destruction as well as the ability to criminalize some examples of environmental destruction in armed conflicts.

One of the challenging issues in the field of modern international law is the emergence of a new type of refugees that has been forced to leave their country for reasons of environmental risk and climate change consequences. This population shift is one of the most prominent signs of a lack of security that is both a cause and a consequence of that and one of the most significant human hazards. The international asylum system today needs serious attention to prevent and protect environmental refugees affected by the increasing speed of environmental degradation and climate change. The purpose of this research, using a descriptive method of documentary analysis, is to provide a definition of environmental refugees to identify them in international law due to seek a legal framework in international documents and procedures to support them. The findings indicate that no explicit definition of this category of refugees is found in the international documents and procedures, but can be implicitly identified from regional documents as well as legal doctrines. The rights that environmental refugees can provide in international documents and procedures are embodied in both the asylum legal system and the international human rights system. Since it is not always possible to support individuals by their governments, the effectiveness of a priori and aesthetic approaches to protecting environmental refugees also requires acceptance of shared responsibility by different countries based on human dignity and fundamental human rights.

Among the most important wars that have caused severe damage to the environment in the modern era are the Iraq wars and the Russian war against Ukraine, which we have discussed in this research in a descriptive-analytical way.The main question in this research is, what was the legal basis of gross violations of international environmental laws,The findings indicate that the parties involved in these wars have had many illegal activities in harming the environment.The involved countries have violated the rules of armed conflict, such as the principle of proportionality and necessity. Also, during these wars, several million tons of carbon dioxide have been released into space. As a result, regarding the Iraq war, all the environmental damages caused by Iraq such as; The release of oil from tankers in the Persian Gulf and the burning of oil wells in Kuwait were against the rules and regulations of international humanitarian law and Article 22 of Hague IV and the Geneva Conventions. In these conflicts, other cases have also been violated based on the rules of the law of war, including; According to Article 23 (g) of Hague IV, which prohibits the destruction or confiscation of property of the other party, and also Article 55 of Hague IV, which prohibits the occupying party from damaging or destroying real property in the occupied country. Regarding criminal liability, it will be possible to follow up through the amendment of the Statute of the International Criminal Court or the establishment of the Environmental Criminal Court.

In recent decades, the world has been facing with climate change and a shortage of fresh water, particularly in hot and dry regions. This investigation is based on document analysis and content analysis. The study categorizes and analyzes the available (albeit limited) resources to examine the legal situation of downstream countries from the perspective of water law and environmental law.This study deals with the principles and requirements related to international law to protect the rights of the beneficiaries of Border Rivers. Also this investigation attends the decisions issued by international courts in disputes related to Border Rivers with respect to water rights and environmental rights, in order to analyze the legal status of Border Rivers. This study aims to provide an analysis of the Aras River situation in terms of quantitative and qualitative damages affected by the activities of upstream countries. Based on existing studies, international courts have defended the right of downstream countries to secure their defined water rights under neighboring country agreements and to meet the standard needs of each person for a healthy life, particularly in situations where people in downstream countries are economically disadvantaged. Since Iran, as one of the downstream countries in the region, faces unique conditions in river currents, if no solution (such as reaching an agreement or resorting to international courts) is found to address the problems related to fresh water, the country will suffer irreparable human, environmental, and economic losses.