Mountain law is still in its infancy. Most countries have not yet adopted mountain-specific laws, preferring to focus on the protection and development of mountains through existing sectoral legislation. However, a few countries such as France, Georgia, Italy, the Russian Federation (North Ossetia-Alania),Switzerland and Ukraine, have enacted legal instruments dealing specifically with mountains, and other countries are in the process of developing similar legislation. These converging efforts seem to signal an emerging trend towards a progressive increase in mountain law-making in the years to come. This publication looks at the development of mountain legislation. The first part broadly describes the main elements of mountain-specific legal texts, first in the international sphere, then at the domestic level. The second part contains six short case studies from countries where legislation on mountains has been passed or proposed.
