Module LAWM711 for 2017/8
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
LAWM711: Environmental and Energy Law
This module descriptor refers to the 2017/8 academic year.
Module Aims
Because environmental and climate change issues are increasingly important to society, this course aims to allow you the opportunity to question how effectively environmental law can protect human health and the environment. The course aims to address practical and pressing problems with a particular emphasis on issues that arise in the energy debate including sustainability, project finance and climate change. The course questions how we can limit environmental damage in the future and addresses important issues of environmental justice, energy security and climate change adaptation. There is a practical end to the course as it aims to review various forms of regulation in the energy context.
| On successfully completing the programme you will be able to: | |
|---|---|
| Module-Specific Skills | 1. Demonstrate detailed understanding of how law seeks to limit damage to human health and the environment, particularly in the context of energy production and consumption; 2. Demonstrate detailed knowledge of regulatory theories and the policies pursued to protect the environment; 3. Demonstrate critical awareness of different models of environmental and energy regulation; |
| Discipline-Specific Skills | 4. Demonstrate detailed and comprehensive knowledge of international, European Union and UK legal instruments, case-law, statutory materials and critical legal literature as well as critical awareness of their contextual implications; 5. Demonstrate a flexible and innovative ability to analyse complex legal problems, identify the relative significance of applicable rule and principles, and select appropriate methods for investigating and critically evaluating legal responses to such problems; 6. Apply detailed and comprehensive legal knowledge to a problem and argue alternative approaches; |
| Personal and Key Skills | 7. Identify, retrieve and use the full range of library-based and electronic resources efficiently and autonomously for specific learning tasks; 8. Demonstrate the ability to communicate well orally and in writing in a manner appropriate to this discipline. 9. Clarify, plan and undertake tasks confidently and independently, individually and/or with others, to reflect critically on the learning process and to make use of feedback effectively; 10. Demonstrate the ability to work independently, within a limited time frame, to complete a specified task. |
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover the following topics:
Introduction to environmental law
Environmental principles
Environmental regulation – theory and practice
Enforcement of environmental law
Environmental regulation and environmental media (land, air and water)
Protection of natural resources (bio-diversity loss and historic pollution)
Climate change law and policy
Energy Law and Policy (particularly EU Energy policy) - fossil fuels, nuclear and renewable energy
Project finance and environmental and energy law
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 270 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 12 | 1 x 3 hour introductory lecture session and 9 x 1 hour overview lectures relating to the material which will be the subject of the following weeks seminar. Lectures which introduce students to particular topics and will provide the foundation for independent guided study.Lecture led seminar classes (10 x 3 hours) |
| Guided independent study | 60 | Preparation for (written) formative and sumative assessments |
| Guided independent study | 160 | Preparation of seminars, including seminar presentations |
| Scheduled Learning & Teaching activities | 18 | Lecturer-led, two-hour seminars (total of nine). Students will be expected to participate in the making at least one presentation, either individually or, if numbers are large, as part of a team, during the course of the seminar programme. |
| Guided independent study | 50 | Other guided independent study |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
ELE – http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/
http://www.law.georgetown.edu/library/research/guides/energylaw.cfm
This is an Energy law research website
How this Module is Assessed
In the tables below, you will see reference to 'ILO's. An ILO is an Intended Learning Outcome - see Aims and Learning Outcomes for details of the ILOs for this module.
Formative Assessment
A formative assessment is designed to give you feedback on your understanding of the module content but it will not count towards your mark for the module.
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 1,500 | 1-4; 7-10 | Comments on School feedback sheet attached to each essay and provision for individual discussion with students over any concerns or problems |
| Team/ individual oral presentation | 30 minutes | 7-10 | Comments on School feedback sheet and/ or discussion with students over any concerns or problems |
Summative Assessment
A summative assessment counts towards your mark for the module. The table below tells you what percentage of your mark will come from which type of assessment.
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
...and this table provides further details on the summative assessments for this module.
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 100 | 7,500 words | 1-10 | Formal written feedback and an opportunity for oral feedback from the lecturer |
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 | ||||
| 0 |
Re-assessment
Re-assessment takes place when the summative assessment has not been completed by the original deadline, and the student has been allowed to refer or defer it to a later date (this only happens following certain criteria and is always subject to exam board approval). For obvious reasons, re-assessments cannot be the same as the original assessment and so these alternatives are set. In cases where the form of assessment is the same, the content will nevertheless be different.
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay | 7,500 words | 1-10 | August/September |
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
Basic Reading:
Stuart Bell. Donald McGillivray. Ole Pedersen Environmental Law (Oxford University Press, 2013, 8th edition)
Elizabeth Fisher, Bettina Lange, Eloise Scotford Environmental Law: Text, Cases, and Materials (Oxford University Press, 2013)
Raphael J. Heffron Energy Law: An Introduction (Springer, 2015)
Jane Holder and Maria Lee Environmental Protection, Law and Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
Karen Makuch, Ricardo Pereira (eds.) Environmental and Energy Law (Wiley-Blackwell), 2012)
