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This summer, top legal scholars from NACLE schools in Mexico, Canada and the United States gathered in Montreal to initiate a multi-year research agenda to examine ways to improve environmental collaboration between Canada, the United States and Mexico. It included an in-depth review of the “citizen submissions” process under the environmental side agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  The citizen’s submissions process allows individuals or organizations from any of the NAFTA countries to file a document with the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), raising concerns about enforcement of environmental laws.  Law students from these universities will ultimately participate in the research project.

Comprised of cabinet-level representatives from environmental departments from Canada, Mexico and the United States, the CEC was created to implement the terms of the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC).  Created at the same time as NAFTA, NAAEC aims to address regional environmental concerns, prevent trade and environmental conflicts and promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. 

NACLE provides a forum for legal study and practice that addresses regional concerns, facilitate faculty exchange, international collaborative research and student exchange.

The partnership between NACLE and CEC reflects the regional need to assess the tools available under the NAAEC after nearly 15 years of operation.  At the summer 2011 meeting, CEC staff members and representatives from various universities set forth an ambitious, multi-year research agenda to address regional efforts to protect the environment.

Areas of research include the use and perceived effectiveness of the citizen’s submission process, the process used to narrow the scope of submissions and how that is perceived by the public, the evolution of other international mechanisms for citizen submissions such as the Aarhus Agreement, and the public outreach and communication processes associated with the submission process.

Research teams will be formed in September.  The research teams will meet in person during the NACLE Workshop which will be held this year at The George Washington University Law School on November 10-12.

Robert E. Lutz is Professor of Law at Southwestern Law School. He is a former Chair of the ABA Section of International Law and organized the panel at the Section's Fall Meeting in Paris, France, at which the program "Educating Future Transnational Lawyers: European Approaches and Innovations" was presented. He also serves as the Liason from the ABA Task Force on the International Trade in Legal Services to the ABA Commission on Ethics 20/20. Professor Lutz hopes that publication of these perspectives will generate greater discussion among academics and practitioners both in the U.S. and abroad about how to more effectively educate future transnational lawyers.