LLM Environmental Law
The International Community increasingly faces the task of addressing a plethora of environmental challenges. The LLM Environmental law provides an insight into the international legal response to these various challenges which include global warming, ozone layer depletion, the over-exploitation by mankind of wildlife species and the destruction of vital habitat sites.
Course Outline
Many environmental problems require an international response. This course aims to provide the student with an insight into international environmental law with a focus on the general themes and principles in this area, the law relating to the protection of biodiversity, and that which endeavours to prevent or at least minimise the impact of transfrontier pollution.
The modules taught on this course cover a wide range of issues of contemporary relevance. The underlying purpose is to provide a solid grounding in the basic principles of European Community and international environmental law as applied in a particular context.
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How has international environmental law evolved historically?
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Who are the main actors in the field?
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What key principles underpin regulation?
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What do we mean by the pursuit of “sustainable development”?
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How is the law in this area enforced?
Treaty regimes explored include those relating to acid deposition, climate change, ozone layer depletion, nuclear contamination and freshwater pollution. In addition, an insight will be given to the various treaty regimes that seek to address the continuing pressures on the world’s biodiversity. For example, how is commercial whaling now regulated? What system is in place to regulate trade in endangered species? What of the protection of wetlands, Antarctica, world heritage and of migratory species?
Modern techniques of environmental regulation are also addressed, such as the funding mechanisms for international environmental treaties (eg Biodiversity Convention, Ozone Layer Convention) and the procedural requirement for environmental impact assessment of certain activities under international and European Community law.
Details of other Nottingham postgraduate courses on the environment can be found at the University of Nottingham's Centre for the Environment.
Modules
The course offered me a very good composition of topics through a variety of environmental law and international public law modules. I enjoyed the focus on international rather than UK law, the interesting reading and lots of discussions during classes which were led by very good professors.
Olha Melen, LLM Environmental Law, Class of 2008/09. To find out more click here. To read graduate profiles for all LLM Programmes click here.