76024 Environmental Law

6cp
Requisite(s): ( 70616 Australian Constitutional Law OR 70311 Torts OR ((94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04236 Juris Doctor OR 142 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04250 Juris Doctor Master of Business Administration OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04363 Juris Doctor Master of Intellectual Property OR 94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04364 Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate Trade Mark Law and Practice) AND 70106c Principles of Public International Law AND 70107c Principles of Company Law) OR (94 credit points of completed study in spk(s): C04320 Juris Doctor Graduate Certificate Professional Legal Practice AND 70106 Principles of Public International Law))
The lower case 'c' after the subject code indicates that the subject is a corequisite. See definitions for details.
These requisites may not apply to students in certain courses.
There are course requisites for this subject. See access conditions.
Anti-requisite(s): 79004 Environmental Law and Science AND 79035 Sustainability and the Law

Description

This subject evaluates the effectiveness of environmental regulation in Australia, by examining the interaction of rules, relationships, systems and processes designed to protect the environment. In conjunction with considerations of practical aspects of environmental law, the subject also provides students with an introduction to environmental ethics, planning law and planning policy.

Students are called upon to engage continuously with the notion of sustainable development which weaves throughout the subject as a consistent theme. An understanding of sustainable development provides the linchpin for evaluating the effectiveness of environmental regulation in a variety of contexts including:

• decision making which incorporates trade-offs, and
• humanity's increasing consumption of environmental resources.

The learning materials focus on the key themes which underpin the practice of environmental law, such as:

• the role of private property rights and environmental protection
• sustainable development
• the protection of biodiversity, and
• pollution and climate change.

Successful completion of the subject provides students with a valuable foundation of knowledge of environmental law from which they can successfully undertake more specialised environmental law subjects, including international environmental law, climate change law, and international trade law and the environment.

The subject takes a practice-oriented approach to student learning by focusing discussion on problem questions that deal with real environmental issues on which legal professionals provide advice in professional practice.

Detailed subject description.