Lecture / Seminar: 4 hours per week
This course will employ several methods to accomplish its objectives and will include some of the following:
- Lecture / seminar
- In-class group work and discussion
- Written assignments
- Research projects
- Audio-visual materials
1. Basic Concepts in Environmental Law
- Pollution
- Conservation
- Sustainable Development
- Biodiversity
- Polluter-Pays Principle
- Precautionary Principle
2. The Constitution and Environmental Law
- The Canadian Constitution and the Environment
- Federal Constitutional Authority
- Provincial Constitutional Authority
- Role of Municipalities
- Role of Indigenous Persons and First Nations
- Interjurisdictional Coordination
- Constitutional Rights
- Statute-based Rights
- Common law Rights
3. Private Law Action to Protect the Environment
- Civil Liability for Environmental Harm
- Corporate Accountability for Environmental Harm
- Financial Compensation for Environmental Harm
- Remediation
4. Government Action to Protect the Environment I: Regulation, Prohibition and Prosecution
- Environmental Regulations and Approvals
- Administrative Compliance Mechanisms
- Prosecutions
5. Government Action to Protect the Environment II: Economic Instruments
- Tax Incentives
- Non-tax Instruments
- Public Spending and Environmental Funds
6. Government Action to Protect the Environment III: Non-Economic Instruments
- Environmental Assessment
- Protected Areas and Endangered Species
- Toxic Substances
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Voluntary Measures
7. Environmental Law and the Citizen
- Environmental Activism
- Regulating Citizen Choices: Automobiles
- The Environmentalist as Consumer
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
- Identify and discuss foundational concepts relevant to environmental law, including the polluter-pays principle and the precautionary principle.
- Critically assess how legal systems can both advance and hinder environmental justice, including through historical case study.
- Describe the allocation of constitutional responsibility for the environment, including the importance of Indigenous rights and responsibilities.
- Demonstrate how private law mechanisms can be used to protect the environment.
- Explain how governments use prohibitions, regulations and prosecutions to protect the environment.
- Illustrate how governments use economic instruments to protect the environment.
- Explain how governments use non-economic instruments to protect the environment.
- Delineate the roles of individual citizens and grassroots groups in environmental protection.
- Analyze and solve hypothetical environmental problems using legal concepts from the course.
The evaluation will be based on the course objectives and in keeping with the Douglas College Evaluation policy. Students may be required to complete in-class examinations, presentations, written assignments and a comprehensive final examination.
Instructors may use a student's record of attendance and /or level of active participation in the course as part of the student's graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor's Course Outline.
The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific evaluation requirements to the student at the beginning of the semester.
An example of one evaluation scheme:
|
Exam 1 |
20% |
|
Exam 2 |
20% |
|
Written Assignment |
20% |
|
Participation and Attendance |
10% |
|
Final Exam |
30% |
|
Total |
100% |
Textbooks and materials to be acquired by students. An example of required materials is:
Benidickson, Jamie. Environmental Law (Latest Edition). Toronto: Irwin Law.
Relevant federal and provincial legislation and case law.
CRIM 1160 or permission of the instructor.