LAU34131 Environmental Law

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this module, students should be able to:

• Appraise the prevalence of environmental law in individual, commercial and governmental activities
• Interrogate core concepts that inform environmental law
• Identify relevant approaches to environmental concerns and remedies offered by other fields of public and private law such as constitutional law, human rights law, property law and tort law
• Critically evaluate similarities and differences in environmental law within and between legal systems

Module Content

Environmental law expertise is traditionally considered useful if it helps a manager manoeuvre myriad rules and regulations, or if it helps an environmentalist combat industrialisation. Further, there is a concentration on either local or international or regional law. This module rejects an either or approach, and wishes to convey that environmental law cuts across and within legal systems, fields of law, vested interests and disciplinary boundaries. At the same time, it aims to assist students with negotiating this complexity by concentrating on common principles, illustrated through case studies. Notably, the precautionary principle and the polluter-pays principle are examined. Such principles, in turn, prompt an analysis of the use of property rights in managing and dealing with environmental problems. Property rights doubles up as a useful lens in appreciating questions pertaining to land use. The module requires students to discuss and debate theoretical nuance and practical application.  

Given that climate change has become a distinct and inescapable legal concern, special attention is given to the practice and theory of climate law. This includes understanding the unique nature of international climate law, existing instruments of mitigation such as the European Union Emissions Trading System and climate battles fought in courts.