Environmental Law is a specialised area of law which has emerged in response to the many environmental problems faced by society. Global warming and climate change now represent the most challenging environmental problems and legislative initiatives currently being implemented will impact on nearly all areas of legal regulation. Environmental law will examine environmental developments within international and EC law as well as subject specific issues such as access to justice, public participation, human rights, civil liability and environmental crime. Students will explore such themes through the topic areas of:

1. Development of environmental law
2. Climate change
3. Energy policy and law, including renewable energy
4. Biodiversity and conservation
5. Planning law and environmental impact assessment
7. Regulation and enforcement of pollution controls
8. The role of the courts
9. Environmental litigation and human rights
10. Water pollution
11. Integrated pollution and prevention controls
12. Statutory nuisance
13. Waste management law
14. Contaminated land

WORKSHOPS:
In this module, large group sessions will take the form of workshops where students will have the opportunity to learn from topic overviews, group discussions and activities which will be used to enhance research and a wide range of transferable skills in relation to Environmental Law. Preparation for workshops will be supported by research study plans and activities as well as a range of on-line activities via Blackboard. Skills to be enhanced include:

- problem-solving
- discussion and debating
- research (primary materials)
- research (secondary materials)
- interviewing
- group work and collaborative working
- presentation skills

Workshop Sessions 22 x 2 hours = 44 hours

DIRECTED STUDY AND INDEPENDENT LEARNING:
This will consist of preparation for the work to be undertaken in the workshops and also assessment. Students will be provided with guidance in their module study guide, lecture materials and via Blackboard. A significant amount of on-line guided support will be provided via Blackboard and this will include further reading, research exercises, and on-line collaboration to support workshop preparation. At Level 3, the independent learning activities encourage students to develop a critical understanding of the role of law in the control
and prevention of environmentally hazardous and polluting activities. In particular, the learning activities encourage students to focus upon the issues and skills assessed in the written portfolio.

Directed Study and Independent Learning = 256 hours
TOTAL LEARNING 300 HOURS

Module Study Guide

Access to appropriate primary and secondary legal resources

Computing facilities will be needed to access material available via Blackboard and the web

Specialist software (Lexis-Nexis, Westlaw)

Bell, S. & McGillivray, D. Environmental Law (current edition)

WRITTEN PORTFOLIO
Students are required to submit a written portfolio which consists of 3 pieces of work:

1. Research Exercise (1500 words) (which will assess Learning Outcomes 4 and 5) - 30%
2. Written Assignment (2,500 words) (which will assess Learning Outcomes 1, 2, 4 and 5) - 35%
3. Case Study (2,500 words) (which will assess Learning Outcomes 1, 3, 4 and 5) - 35%

To pass this module, students must obtain an average mark of at least 40% and a mark of at least 25% in each component.