Irresolute clay: shaping the foundations of modern environmental law

摘要

Readers of this journal may wonder why they should be expected to read a study of environmental law. The title may puzzle them too (though the idea can be traced back to the opening of Ovid's Metamorphoses). Furthermore, the book starts with an amusing anecdote from Professor Richard Macrory's early employment as a factotum in Hollywood. As his preface explains, the book is 'not intended to be an academic critique of environmental law nor a definitive book on legal and policy history'; nor does he offer a 'conventional' memoir. Instead, Macrory explores 'a number of distinct themes of importance'. He raises his standard on the battlefield of the environment; his appointment to numerous official and unofficial bodies and a long list of his publications attest to his qualifications. What he has to say goes to the heart of how democratic government should work. In chapter four he asks: 'How, within a sophisticated democracy, could one develop frameworks for decision making where major and complex developments were involved, which allowed issues to be thoroughly examined within a reasonable timeframe and in a way that was considered fair by the general public?'