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Environmental Rights (LAWS70386)
Graduate coursework level 7Points: 12.5Not available in 2018
Overview
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With policy and law-makers under pressure to subordinate environmental concerns to short-term economic imperatives, environmental advocates are increasingly looking to human rights as a means of reinforcing the importance of environmental protection to human welfare. This subject will give students an overview of the relationship between human rights law and environmental protection at national and international levels. It will provide insight into strategic aspects of human rights advocacy for the environment, using case studies to explore the roles of state and non-state actors in environmental protection. Alice Palmer will bring both practical and critical perspectives to this cutting-edge area of law.
Principal topics include:
- The relationship between human rights and the environment in theory and practice
- Human rights that protect the environment, including substantive rights such as the rights to privacy or health and procedural rights such as the rights to information or participation and the right to a clean and healthy environment
- Sustainable development and its relevance to human rights and the environment
- The implications of human rights law for indigenous peoples and environmental protection
- National, regional and international governance of human rights in relation to the environment
- The roles and responsibilities of non-state actors in relation to ‘environmental rights’, including environmental advocates and businesses.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Have thorough knowledge of the principal instruments that protect human rights and ‘environmental rights’ and their governance structures, including their enforcement mechanisms, at national, regional and international levels
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the theoretical and practical bases for engaging human right to protect the environment
- Have an advanced understanding of ‘environmental rights’ and the relationship between human rights law and environmental protection, including recent developments at national, regional and international levels
- Be an engaged participant in debate regarding contemporary issues in areas such as the rights of Indigenous Peoples with respect to environmental protection as well as the roles and responsibilities of actors other than states, such as businesses, in environmental matters that impact human rights
- Have the cognitive and technical skills to generate critical and creative ideas relating to the use of human rights to protect the environment
- Have the technical and communication skills to describe cases in which environmental rights have been applied and critically evaluate the decisions from theoretical perspectives to reach independent conclusions on the efficacy of a human rights approach to environmental protection.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Melbourne Law Masters Students: None
JD Students: None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Assessment
Additional details
- Class presentation of assigned case (15%)
- 7,000 - 8,500 word research paper (85%) on a topic proposed or approved by the subject coordinator
A minimum of 75% attendance is a hurdle requirement.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2018
Time commitment details
136-150 hours The pre-teaching period commences four weeks before the subject commencement date. From this time, students are expected to access and review the Reading Guide that will be available from the LMS subject page and the subject materials provided by the subject coordinator, which will be available from Melbourne Law School. Refer to the Reading Guide for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences.
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students. Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 3 November 2022
Further information
- Texts
Prescribed texts
Specialist printed materials will be made available free of charge from the Melbourne Law School prior to the pre-teaching period.
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
- Links to additional information
law.unimelb.edu.au
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If required, please contact law-admissions@unimelb.edu.au for subject coordinator approval.
Last updated: 3 November 2022