The session was closed with papers that provided a prognosis on the future development of property rights in fisheries management. Thus, the conference papers addressed the theory and application of property.

Between 2001 and 2002 the Maritime Institute of the Universiteit Gent and the Centre for International Law of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel joined efforts and hosted Emeritus Professor Dermott Devine as holder of the International Francqui Chair, around the central themes of fisheries and coastal state jurisdiction with respect to marine pollution. As Emeritus Director of the Institute of Marine and Environmental Law, Professor Devine was available for discussion and participation in the scientific life of the different Belgian universities having similar fields of interest. Within this context six classes of excellence were organized with the participation of interested Belgian colleagues across the board, belonging to universities adhering to different basic philosophies and even forming part of different linguistic communities. These classes culminated in a final symposium where Professor Devine gave a birds-eye view of the general theme, overarching and synthesizing the different subjects covered during the previous classes of excellence. This book offers a reworked compilation of all the contributions of the key-note speakers to the classes of excellence.

This authoritative handbook surveys the full breadth and depth of SEA, bringing together a range of international perspectives and insights on the theoretical, methodological and institutional dimensions and practical issues of the field. It then subjects this conventional wisdom to a critical reappraisal, looks at the vast lessons of experience and offers new ideas and interpretations as to where the field is going. The volume is organized into six major sections, beginning with an introduction and overview of the development of the field and a framework for evaluating SEA good practice. Part I comprises a review of SEA frameworks in leading countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA), the European Union and developing regions (Africa, Asia, Latin America and Newly Independent States). Part II reviews SEA practice in several major sectors (energy, minerals, transport, water, development assistance and coastal zone management). Part III addresses the linkages between SEA and other comparable tools such as spatial planning and environmental management. Part IV probes key cross-cutting issues in SEA, including how to address cumulative and trans-boundary effects. Part V identifies ways and means of SEA process and capacity development, focusing on how to improve and upgrade the theory and practice of the field. Part VI examines the shift from conventional SEA towards more integrative approaches, drawing on experience and examples from a number of countries. Published with IAIA

This Handbook is the first comprehensive account of comparative environmental law. It examines in detail the methodological foundations of the discipline as well as the substance of environmental law across countries from four vantage points: country studies from all continents, responses to common problems (including air pollution, water management, nature conservation, genetically modified organisms, climate change and energy, chemicals, waste), foundational components of environmental law systems (including principles, property rights, administrative and judicial organisation, command-and-control regulation, market mechanisms, informational techniques and liability mechanisms), and common interactions of environmental protection with the broader public, private, and criminal law contexts. The volume brings together the foremost authorities in this field from around the world to provide a concise, self-contained, and technically rigorous account of environmental law as a single overall system.