LLAW3242 Environmental Law

2017

4.5

1 x 2-hour seminar weekly

1 Admission into BLAWLPR-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice
1a Admission into BLAWLPRG-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Graduate Entry)
1b Admission into BLAWLPRH-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Honours)
1c Admission into BLAWLPRGH-Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (Graduate Entry) (Honours)
1d Admission into BLAWS-Bachelor of Laws
1e Admission into BLAWSH-Bachelor of Laws (Honours)
1f Admission into BLLAW-Bachelor of Laws
1g Admission into BLLAWH-Bachelor of Laws (Honours)
1h Admission into BLLAWFP-Bachelor of Laws - City Campus
1i Admission into BLLAWHFP-Bachelor of Laws (Honours) - City Campus
1j Admission into CLAWBU-Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Business - City Campus
1k Admission into CLAWIR-Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of International Relations and Political Science - City Campus
1l Admission into CLAWIT-Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Information Technology - City Campus
1m Admission into CLAWAC-Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Accounting - City Campus
1n Admission into CLAWCR-Bachelor of Laws/Bachelor of Criminology - City Campus
2 18 units of second year LLAW topics
3 2 of LLAW2212, LLAW2221
3a LLAW3312 - Constitutional Law
Must Satisfy: ((1 or 1a or 1b or 1c or 1d or 1e or 1f or 1g or 1h or 1i or 1j or 1k or 1l or 1m or 1n) and 2 and (3 or 3a))

LLAW2021 has been successfully completed

This topic considers the application, in international, national and regional contexts, of laws to protect the environment. It examines the specific legislative and legal responses to concerns about the use of natural resources and the problems of environmental degradation. Contemporary issues in environmental protection such as biodiversity and the management of natural resources will be explored. The topic will examine the range of current pollution control legislation and general environmental legislation including the South Australian Environment Protection Act 1993 and also the relevant conventions and intergovernmental agreements on the environment.The topic will be considered within the social and economic contexts within which current debate about the environment occurs and also explore the philosophical and cultural perceptions that have shaped our views about the environment and the role of the law in protecting it.

This topic aims to:

• examine the structure and constitutional responsibilities for environmental law in Australia
• examine how international obligations impact on domestic environmental law and policy
• examine the operation of biodiversity and conservation laws in place in South Australia and nationally and the cases that have interpreted those laws
• examine the pollution laws in place in South Australia and nationally and the cases that have interpreted those laws
• integrate the above with an understanding of the nature and significance of environmental issues and concepts (e.g., sustainability, biodiversity, integrated natural resource management) and how we have developed legislative responses to them
• integrate Environmental Law with other related subjects offered in the course, notably those on property, torts and land use planning and as an application of constitutional and general public law principles
• provide students with the opportunity to undertake a study of a particular environmental issue of their choice and to consider how law and legislation might apply to its solution

Upon successful completion of this topic students will:

• be able to identify and discuss the major environmental and land use issues in Australia
• know (and be able to refer to) the main environmental legislation and case law that comprises environmental law in Australia and know how those laws might effectively address those issues
• understand, and be able to describe, the social, economic and political contexts in which environmental law sits; and be able to explain how these contexts shape environmental law and policies
• have undertaken, through your case study, a practical application of the learning outcomes and be able to describe how we might utilise or create legal and administrative options to deal with a specific issue