THE INVOCABILITY OF EXTERNAL STANDARDS BY THE ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE

From the 1970s onwards, the sharp increase in threats to the environment, coupled with an improved understanding of these threats, gave rise to an unprecedented normative movement. This proliferation of standards affected all legal orders, from national law to domestic legislation. This plethora of standards requires judges to work rigorously and meticulously to decipher the truth behind them. This is why the administrative judge is called upon to interpret these texts to give them meaning and spirit, with a view to ensuring maximum protection of the environment. They are called upon to play their role as guardians of the law, and see themselves invested with the role of good shepherd for the application of environmental protection laws. While the administration is sometimes tempted to neglect the environment, the judge is in the last line and cannot shy away from the environmental rule.