Legal Concepts in Environmental Law

This award-winning course taught by award winning scholars fosters legal expertise in environmental law through the in-depth study of legal reasoning and legal ideas as they relate to environmental problems. Environmental problems are center-stage in business and governing but environmental problems have a type of complexity lawyers are not often used to. They involve many different parties, changing physical conditions, a range of different socio-political values, and knowledge of them is often limited. Traditional legal doctrines and concepts have not been developed with problems like this in mind. As this is the case, environmental law has evolved as a nuanced and intricate body of law at the national level through adapting legal ideas and developing new concepts. This course, through a study of these legal responses in a broad range of national systems, equips students with the intellectual skills needed to nimbly navigate this complex and dynamic legal landscape. Particular attention is given to: understanding environmental problems and the types of legal issues they give rise to; developing skills in working with environmental legislation, policy and case law; and developing an advanced appreciation for legal reasoning in this area. The course draws on cases and case studies from different jurisdictions and part of the legal expertise fostered by the course is the ability to work with legal material from different legal cultures. The course also focuses on current developments. Teaching is highly interactive and discursive.  

This course will be of interest to: students who are wanting to deepen their environmental law knowledge through in-depth study of legal reasoning and legal concepts; students exploring law and society interrelationships; and students who want to develop their skills for dealing with environmental law in different areas of legal practice. 

 Assessment is by way of a submission.