Spatiality of environmental law

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

Digital society challenges the traditional perception of legal sources. The use of maps as a basis for public administration dates far back, but e-Government’s use of digital maps that include legal information creates new legal obstacles. In the coming decades, the inspire directive of 2007 will determine the interplay between geographic data and technology in the fields of environmental legislation, environmental policy and environmental management. This article examines the legal regulation of spatial information as established by the inspire directive, on one hand, and on the other hand, examines legal regulation as spatial information. It aims to deepen the understanding of spatiality as a core element of environmental law, and to connect it to the basic concept of representation used in giscience. It concludes that the future path for e-Government demands a shift in legal paradigm, from maps showing representations of applied legal norms, to maps build on datasets that have legal authority. That will integrate legal and geographic information systems, and improve the legal accountability of decision support systems used in e-Government services based on spatio-legal data.
Translated title of the contributionMiljørettens Geografi
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal for European Environmental & Planning Law
Volume12
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)173-188
Number of pages16
ISSN1613-7272
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

ID: 139035094