The use of mediation to resolve environmental disputes in South Africa and Switzerland

The minor dissertation is structured as follows: After a short overview about mediation as one mechanism to resolve environmental disputes and the advantages respectively disadvantages of this kind of alternative dispute resolution, the focus shifts in paragraph C to the use of mediation to resolve environmental disputes in Switzerland. On the basis 4 of several cases in which mediation or mediation-type activities were used to resolve the environmental conflict I want to show why, in the end, environmental mediation probably will never be so widespread in Switzerland as it is in other countries. The paragraph ends with a case study about mediation experiences in Switzerland over nuclear waste disposal. Nevertheless, this aforementioned case study shows that the Swiss decision-making system offers a good basis for mediation procedures in areas of politics where there is yet little participation as longs as certain preconditions for a successful procedure are fulfilled. In paragraph D I deal with the use of mediation in South Africa to resolve environmental disputes. The focus shifts in a first step on the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), especially Chapter 4 NEMA which deals with Alternative Dispute Resolution and, in particular, with environmental mediation. In a next step I examine if this Chapter has been already implemented or if there is still a big gap between theory and practice. Finally, paragraph D ends with two South African cases in which mediation was involved to resolve the dispute and a comparison of the two procedures.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Public Law

Year dc:date.issued

2014

Author dc:creator

• Alder, Juerg

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4679

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/4679