Disaster Law and Policy


Book Description

Disaster Law and Policy examines the growing field concerned with disaster prevention, emergency response, compensation and& insurance, human rights, and community recovery. The first book on disaster law to appear in the wake of Katrina, this fascinating text provides the key building blocks for a thoughtful analysis of the issues that surround disaster-relief policy and procedure. Exploring the legal issues that surround Katrina and other natural disasters in the U.S. and around the world, Disaster Law and Policy, features: effective tools for legal analysis of issues emerging from disastrous events discussion problems and class exercises an interdisciplinary approach that combines law, public policy, economics, and science broad coverageand—from environmental and land use law to insurance, tort law, and civil rights issues discussion of public expectations of government response in crisis, compared to actual government and private sector preparedness and capabilities examination of post disaster issues such as Medicaid, the role of environmental litigation, communications, law enforcement, evacuation, and the work of the Army Corps of Engineers on the levees in New Orleans Adopting a wider perspective that looks at the legal ramifications of disasters across the United States and around the world, the Second Edition offers: a new chapter on the causes of disasters and their relationship to laws designed to protect health, safety, and the environment a new chapter on risk and uncertainty that examines the latest ideas to come out of economics, complexity theory, and organizational management a new chapter on international disaster law that looks at recent developments in disaster-risk management, the protection of human rights, and the preservation of ecosystem services Coverage includes discussion of the 2005 Asian Tsunami, Chinaand’s Sechuan Earthquake, and Cycloe Nargis in Mynamar/Burma a new chapter on recovery from disaster that features an extended class exercise A unique and timely text in a burgeoning field, Disaster Law and Policy, Second Edition, is ideal for use in a seminar or a course on disaster issuesand—or as a supplement in courses on environmental law or land use.




Disaster Law


Book Description

This book looks at how legal frameworks can and do reduce risks arising out of disasters. The volume: analyses existing disaster laws and the challenges on the ground; brings together case studies from some of the most vulnerable regions; and proposes solutions to avert existing and possible future crises. The book offers appropriate legal frameworks for disaster management which could not only offer sustainable institutional reforms towards community resilience and preparedness but also reduce risk within the frameworks of justice, equity and accountability. It examines the intricacies of governance within which governments function and discusses how recent trends in infrastructure development and engineering technology could be balanced within the legal principles of ethics, transparency and integrity. The chapters in the volume suggest that legal frameworks ought to resonate with new challenges of resource management and climate change. Further, these frameworks could help secure citizens’ trust, institutional accountability and effective implementation through an unceasing partnership which keeps the community better prepared and more resilient. This volume will be indispensable to scholars and researchers of disaster management, law, public policy, environment and development studies as well as policymakers and those in administrative, governmental, judicial and development sectors.




Disaster Law


Book Description

Recent hurricanes and other natural disasters demonstrate serious gaps in the legal system and its ability to respond to events of such magnitude. "Disasters and the Law: Katrina and Beyond" studies disaster response, prevention, and mitigation strategies by integrating knowledge and experience from urban planning, bankruptcy law, and wetlands law.




Disaster Law


Book Description

Disasters and their management are today central to public and political agendas. Rather than being understood as exclusively acts of God and Nature, natural disasters are increasingly analysed as social vulnerability exposed by natural hazards. A disaster following an earthquake is no longer seen as caused exclusively by tremors, but by poor building standards, ineffective response systems, or miscommunications. This book argues that the shift in how a disaster is spoken of and managed affects fundamental notions of duty, responsibility and justice. The book considers the role of law in disasters and in particular the regulation of disaster response and the allocation of responsibility in the aftermath of disasters. It argues that traditionally law has approached emergencies, including natural disasters, from a dichotomy of normalcy and emergency. In the state of emergency, norms were replaced by exceptions; democracy by dictatorship; and rights by necessity. However, as the disaster becomes socialized the idea of a clear distinction between normalcy and emergency crumbles. Looking at international and domestic legislation from a range of jurisdictions the book shows how natural disasters are increasingly normalized and increasingly objects of legal regulation and interpretation. The book will be of great use and interest to scholars and researchers of legal theory, and natural hazards and disasters.




Law and the Management of Disasters


Book Description

Disasters raise serious challenges for contemporary legal orders: they demand significant management, but usually amidst massive disruption to the normal functioning of state authority and society. When dealing with disasters, law has traditionally focused on contingency planning and recovery. More recently, however, ‘resilience’ has emerged as a key concept in effective disaster management policies and strategies, aiming at minimising the impact of events, so that the normal functioning of society and the state can be preserved. This book analyses the contribution of law to resilience building by looking at law’s role in the different phases of the disaster regulatory process: risk assessment, risk management, emergency intervention, and recovery. More specifically, it addresses how law can effectively contribute to resilience-oriented distaster management policies, and what legal instruments can support effective resilience-building.




International Law in Disaster Scenarios


Book Description

The book identifies the main international concepts and rules that are of special relevance in disaster settings and critically analyses how they are implemented in such contexts. It shows that, although the crucial and growing importance of disaster response has resulted in a complex framework of international obligations, it is nonetheless guided by certain general principles/values. In particular, through an in-depth analysis of sovereignty, international cooperation and solidarity, and their manifestations in disaster contexts, the book assesses the concrete scope and nature of the obligations of the state affected by the disaster, and those of the international community, respectively. Considerable attention is devoted to the applicable legal framework governing disaster response in mixed situations of disaster and armed conflict, and to the main problems and operational challenges entailed by the involvement of foreign military personnel and assets in disaster response. The book’s overall objective is to provide an authoritative overview of the development, core issues and challenges in international law with regard to disaster scenarios, and to serve as a valuable and comprehensive reference guide.




Climate Justice and Disaster Law


Book Description

This book provides a unique, comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of climate justice and disaster law.




The Cambridge Handbook of Disaster Risk Reduction and International Law


Book Description

The number, intensity, and impact of diverse forms of 'natural' and 'human-made' disasters are increasing. In response, the international community has shifted its primary focus away from disaster response to prevention and improved preparedness. The current globally agreed upon roadmap is the ambitious Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030, central to which is the better understanding of disaster risk management and mitigation. Sendai also urges innovative implementation, especially multi-sectoral and multi-hazard coherence. Yet the law sector itself remains relatively under-developed, including a paucity of supporting 'DRR law' scholarship and minimal cross-sectoral engagement. Commonly, this is attributable to limited understanding by other sectors about law's dynamic potential as a tool of disaster risk mitigation, despite the availability of many risk-related norms across a broad spectrum of legal regimes. This unique, timely Handbook brings together global and multi-sector perspectives on one of the most pressing policy issues of our time.




Asian Law in Disasters


Book Description

This book is a critical analysis of several of the most disaster-prone regions in Asia. Its unique focus is on the legal issues in the phase of disaster recovery, the most lengthy and difficult stage of disaster response that follows the conclusion of initial emergency stage of humanitarian aid. In the stage of disaster recovery, the law decides the fate of reconstruction for the individual houses and livelihoods of the disaster-affected people and sets the limit of governmental support for them during the lengthy period of suspension of normal living until full recovery is obtained. Researchers who were participant-observers in the difficult recovery phase after the mega-disasters in Asia analyse the reality of the functions of law which often hinder, rather than foster, efforts to restore disaster victims’ lives. The book collects research conducted with an emphasis on empirical approaches to legal sociology, including direct interviews with people affected by the disaster. It offers a holistic approach beyond the traditional sectionalism of legal studies by starting with a historical review and incorporating both spheres of public law and private law, in order to obtain a new perspective that can concurrently achieve disaster risk reductions and human-centered recoveries. With particular emphasis on the unexplored area of law in the post-disaster recovery phase, this book will attract the attention of students and scholars of disaster studies, legal studies, Asian studies, as well as those who work in the practice of disaster management.




EMERGENCY RESPONSE AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT LAW


Book Description

This second edition is a major revision and update of Emergency Response and Emergency Management Law. As the first text to be published on emergency response and emergency management law this book provides an understanding of the legal challenges faced on a daily basis by the front-line troops in emergent situations. The emergency response law section begins with the duty to respond and proceeds through the wide range of legal issues that arise during response. Training accidents, vehicle issues, dispatch, emergency medical services issues, and “Good Samaritan” acts are covered. Additional topics include the standard operating procedures, mutual aid, the incident management system, hazardous materials incidents, OSHA, using volunteer resources, recovery by responders, the rescue doctrine, and the World Trade Center site litigation. The emergency management law section examines the powers of governors, state and local responsibilities, federal emergency management, difficulties in mitigating legal exposure, legal steps for mitigation, potential negligence liability, legal requirements and interpreting/translating assistance, preparedness cases, recovery cases, and the role of the local government attorney before, during, and in the aftermath of a disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Stafford Act and the National Response Framework (NRF) are discussed in great detail. The third section discusses the ethical imperative, homeland security expenditures, policy and legal changes, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war veterans. At the end of each chapter, questions and problems refer back to the text. These resources highlight the principal issues and serve as a valuable teaching tool for the instructor. This text provides a firm base of legal knowledge for emergency responders, emergency management professionals, and their attorneys.