SOLM134 - International Environmental Law - 2024/25
Topic outline
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Forum Description: This forum is available for everyone to post messages to. Students can raise questions or discuss issues related to the module. Students are encouraged to post to this forum and it will be checked daily by the module leaders. Students should feel free to reply to other students if they are able to.
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Module Lead: Prof Malgosia Fitzmaurice - m.fitzmaurice@qmul.ac.uk
Module Teaching Assistant: Miss Yoana Ivanova - joana.ivanova99@gmail.com
For questions on the module, preparation for classes, assessment, presentations and mooting, please contact Yoana in priority. -
o Introduction, administration of the Module
o Information on course assessment
o Learning outcomes, learning expectations, student participation
Please read through the module syllabys. -
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o Development of international environmental law and sources
Compulsory readings
o *Dupuy/Vinuales, Chapters 1&2
Additional materials
o *2002 Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development – Political Declaration
o Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development United Nations, 2015
Article 38 of the Statue of the International Court of Justice
Further reading
o Sands/Peel, Chapters 2-4
o Birnie, Boyle and Redgwell’s International Law and the Environment (4th edn, OUP 2021) chapters 1-2
Please prepare to discuss the following issues in class:
- Is international environmental law a mature area of international law and does it provide adequate protection for the environment?
- Explain the development of IEL through its landmark summits.
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Study Visit to the International Maritime Organization
Date: 14/10/2024
Time: 10:30 start
Meeting Point: Outside HQ of International Maritime Oraganization (IMO) at 10:15am.
For more information on IMO, please use the link below.
https://www.imo.org/ -
o General Principles of International Environmental Law
o Compulsory readings
o *Dupuy/Vinuales, Chapter 3
o https://opil.ouplaw.com/display/10.1093/law:epil/9780199231690/law-9780199231690-e1603?prd=EPIL
Additional materials
o *1941 Trail Smelter Arbitration
o *WTO-EC Measures Concerning Meat and Meat Products (Hormones), Appellate Body-
o *Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, Espoo, 25 Feb. 1991.
o *Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention)
o *Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment to the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context, Kiev, 21 May 2003.
o *2010 Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina Uruguay), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2010,p.14;
o *2011 Advisory Opinion, ITLOS, Responsibilities and Obligations of States Sponsoring Persons and Entities with Respect to Activities in the Area
o *2015 Certain Activities Carried Out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua) and Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v. Costa Rica), Judgment, I.C.J. Reports 2015, p. 665
o Southern Blue Fin Tuna Cases (New Zealand v. Japan; Australia v. Japan), Request For Provisional Measures (2000), The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and Opinion of Judges: Laing, Treves, Shearer (ITLOS website)
o Dispute Concerning the MOX Plant, International Movements of Radioactive Materials, and The Protection of the Marine Environment of the Irish Sea, (Ireland v United Kingdom) (p.44) and the Order of the Tribunal, paras. 71, 75, 84. See also: Separate Opinion of Judges Wolfrum, Treves, and ad hoc Judge Székely (ITLOS website).
o Case concerning Land Reclamation by Singapore in and around the Straits of Johor (Malaysia v. Singapore), Provisional Measures (ITLOS website).
Further reading
o Sands/Peel, Chapter 6 (pp. 211-242)
o Rumiana Yotova, ‘The Principles of Due Diligence and Prevention in International Environmental Law’, The Cambridge Law Journal, vol.75, No.3 (November 2016), pp. 445-448
Activity
- Does the precautionary principle advance international environmental law, or is it a stumbling block in its development? Team 1, please argue in favour. Team 2, please argue against the statement.
- Is it possible to apply the polluter pays principle in the same way to developing countries as to developed countries? Team 1, please argue in favour. Team 2, please argue against the statement.
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o Marine Pollution and Biodiversity
Compulsory readings
o Fitzmaurice M (2022). The International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). Research Handbook on Ocean Governance Law , Edward Elgar Publishing
o Yoshifumi Tanaka (2023). The International Law of the Sea (4d edn), Cambridge University Press, Chapter 8: Protection of Marine Environment, pp. 351-438
Additional materials
Marine Pollution
o UNCLOS Part XII
o MARPOL, International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships
o 1972 London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter and 1906 Protocol
o 2023 The Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ)
Further reading
o AJIL Unbound, Volume 114 ‘Symposium on Global Plastic Pollution’, can be found at the AJIL website: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-journal-of-international-law
Biodiversity
Convention on Biological Diversity https://www.cbd.int/
Cartagena Protocol https://bch.cbd.int/protocol/text
The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing https://www.cbd.int/abs/doc/protocol/nagoya-protocol-en.pdf
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
https://www.cbd.int/gbf/vision
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No classes during Week 6.
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The assessment for this module is a 5000 words essay on one of the following topics, to be submitted online.
Any modification to the following topics must be discussed and approved.
Choose ONE of the following topics:
1. Critically discuss the following statement: ‘global biodiversity is fully protected in relation to wild animals’. Substantiate your essay with reference to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
2. Critically discuss the content of procedural environmental rights. Substantiate your answer, taking into account the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo Convention), the Kiev Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment, and the Arhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, as well as relevant case-law.
3. Critically assess the provisions and practice of the Convention Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) provisions and practices, considering the protection of wild animals and plants.
4. How would you design a global treaty to combat land-based pollution, taking into account basic principles of International Environmental Law (environmental impact assessment, the principle of prevention, the precautionary principle the and polluter-pays -principle)
Referencing
The style of referencing should be in accordance with the Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA). The referencing guide can be found at https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sites/files/oxlaw/oscola_4th_edn_hart_2012.pdf ;
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RESIT SOLM134 - Essay Submission Point - Due 16/08/2024 at 10:00 AM Assignment
