Conservation-Litigation.org delivers environmental liability training in Lao PDR

In early July, our Senior Lawyer, Rika Fajrini, led a 2-day training for judges, prosecutors and public interest lawyers in Lao PDR. 

As in many other countries, Lao PDR has existing laws to hold environmental offenders accountable - but these have yet to be put into practice

Dr Rika Fajrini presents on remedies in environmental liability cases.

In cooperation with the Ministry of Justice and Agence Française de Développement, the training introduced participants to how to develop claims for remedies in future environmental cases.

Currently, remedies in Lao PDR often rely heavily on monetary compensation for private loss, yet the legislation provides a much broader scope for actions. The training focused participants’ attention on how to use the provisions available to them to secure remedies that deliver remediation and restoration for environmental damage, as well as various types of more innovative remedies for harm to the intangible values that humans hold for nature.

This has the potential to transform legal responses to environmental harm in Lao PDR.