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Unit of study_
LAWS6044: Environmental Law and Policy
2025 unit information
The aim of the unit is to introduce students to overarching themes in environmental law and policy as a foundation to their more detailed studies for the Environmental Law Program. This is an overview unit addressing a number of environmental issues at various levels of analysis; such as policy making, implementation of policy and dispute resolution. The concept of ecologically sustainable development and its implications for environmental law and policy is a continuing theme. The unit is designed to develop multi-dimensional thinking about environmental issues and the strategies needed to address them. The unit provides a broad background of the political and economic issues in so far as they are related to the legal issues involved. Students who do not hold a law degree from a common law jurisdiction must either have completed or be concurrently enrolled in LAWS6252 Legal Reasoning and the Common Law System before undertaking the environmental law units. Further information about this unit is available in the Sydney Law School timetable https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/courses/4533/pages/postgraduate-lecture-timetable, unit of study outline https://www.sydney.edu.au/units and academic staff profile https://www.sydney.edu.au/law/about/our-people/academic-staff.html
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Sydney Law School
| Study level | Postgraduate |
|---|---|
| Academic unit | Law |
| Credit points | 6 |
|
Prerequisites:
?
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None |
|---|---|
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Corequisites:
?
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None |
| Prohibitions:
?
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LAWS3430 or LAWS5130 |
| Assumed knowledge:
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LAWS6252 or law degree from a common law jurisdiction |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. Describe to an advanced level the interaction between Commonwealth and State and Territory environmental responsibilities and distinguish between the methods employed to implement environmental policy, including regulatory and incentive-based approaches.
- LO2. Critically analyse and synthesize environmental law materials, including legislation, case law, and journal articles, to formulate legal arguments and strategies.
- LO3. Critically evaluate the development of Australian environmental law in the context of common law and international law influences and evaluate the impact of social and economic factors on environmental legislation and policy.
- LO4. Critically evaluate the principles of sustainable development and their influence on government policy, environmental legislation, and judicial reasoning, including the role of the NSW Land and Environment Court and equivalent bodies in other contexts.
- LO5. Evaluate the efficacy of different environmental dispute resolution mechanisms, including merits and judicial review, and alternative dispute resolution, yo propose improvements based on current enforcement practices.
Unit availability
This section lists the session, attendance modes and locations the unit is available in. There is a unit outline for each of the unit availabilities, which gives you information about the unit including assessment details and a schedule of weekly activities.
The outline is published 2 weeks before the first day of teaching. You can look at previous outlines for a guide to the details of a unit.
| Session | MoA ? | Location | Outline ? |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Semester 1a 2025
|
Block mode | Camperdown/Darlington, Sydney |
Outline unavailable
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
This refers to the Mode of attendance (MoA) for the unit as it appears when you’re selecting your units in Sydney Student. Find more information about modes of attendance on our website.
