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Environmental Rights (LAWS70386)
Graduate coursework level 7Points: 12.5Not available in 2022
From 2023 most subjects will be taught on campus only with flexible options limited to a select number of postgraduate programs and individual subjects.
To learn more, visit COVID-19 course and subject delivery.
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. Domestic, regional and international human rights laws present a range of opportunities and challenges for addressing harms done to the environment. There are also a number of conceptual concerns with framing environmental issues in terms of human rights. Students will work as a class and in small groups to understand the relationship between human rights law and environmental protection at domestic, regional and international levels. The subject 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 and to consider a range of approaches in the different regions of the world. Resources drawing from academic, policy and advocacy material will be used to interrogate practical and critical perspectives on human rights law and environmental protection.
Principal topics include:
- The relationship between human rights and the environment in theory and practice
- Human rights that protect the environment, including general rights such as the rights to privacy, health and to information as well as specific rights ‘to’ and ‘of’ the environment
- Domestic, regional and international governance of human rights in relation to the environment
- Sustainable development and its relevance to issues of human rights and the environment in the different regions of the world
- The implications of human rights law for indigenous peoples and environmental protection
- The roles and responsibilities of non-state actors in relation to ‘environmental rights’, including environmental advocates and businesses
- Channels for redress beyond formal legal mechanisms for people and for ‘nature’.
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 domestic, regional and international levels
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the theoretical and practical bases for engaging human rights 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 domestic, 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, including ideas of rights of nature
- Have the technical and communication skills to describe cases in which environmental rights have been applied and to evaluate critically the decisions from theoretical perspectives to reach independent conclusions on the efficacy of a human rights approach to environmental protection.
Last updated: 10 November 2023
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Admission into a Melbourne Law Masters program
OR
Admission into the MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
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 Melbourne Law Masters welcomes applications from students with disabilities. The inherent academic requirements for study in the Melbourne Law Masters are:
- The ability to attend a minimum of 75% of classes and actively engage in the analysis and critique of complex materials and debate;
- The ability to read, analyse and comprehend complex written legal materials and complex interdisciplinary materials;
- The ability to clearly and independently communicate in writing a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and to critically evaluate these;
- The ability to clearly and independently communicate orally a knowledge and application of legal principles and interdisciplinary materials and critically evaluate these;
- The ability to work independently and as a part of a group;
- The ability to present orally and in writing legal analysis to a professional standard.
Students who feel their disability will inhibit them from meeting these inherent academic requirements are encouraged to contact Student Equity and Disability Support.
Last updated: 10 November 2023
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class presentation of assigned case | 15% | |
Research paper on a topic proposed or approved by the subject coordinator
| 8 January 2020 | 85% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 10 November 2023
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2022
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a first come, first served basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Last updated: 10 November 2023
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.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
This subject is available to students studying at the University from eligible overseas institutions on exchange and study abroad. Students are required to satisfy any listed requirements, such as pre- and co-requisites, for enrolment in the subject.
Last updated: 10 November 2023