Environmental Law (Level 5, 15 credits)

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 5
• Coordinator: Professor Maria Aristodemou
• Assessment: a 3500-word essay

The first term covers general foundational issues, spanning national, EC and international law. The development of environmental law is charted, from civil law controls to regulatory controls, and other foundational concepts including those related to environmental values and environmental justice and rights. You will explore other considerations, such as access to information, and how a variety of stakeholders get involved or are excluded. We also look at how international law and EC law fit into the 'regulatory jigsaw'. Finally, we look at the contribution of private law to environmental protection, and at the way that the environment is looked at through the private law 'legal lens', focusing mainly on the land torts such as nuisance and trespass.

In the second term, we apply the knowledge and principles acquired in the first term to specific areas/topics of environmental law such as water, waste, planning etc and look at issues from an international, EC and national perspective.

By the end of this module, you will have:

• a solid grounding in the way in which different jurisdictional levels (national, EC, international) operate and interrelate
• knowledge of the workings of the key administrative and institutional bodies relevant to environmental law at national, EC and international level
• thought imaginatively about a subject whose borders and principles are far from settled
• thought critically about environmental protection and how the objective of environmental protection should be weighed alongside other socially desirable objectives
• developed your problem-solving skills, and verbal and written presentational skills.