LLM Public International Law / Course details

This course aims to provide students with a comprehensive overview of the ever-evolving agreements, principles and mechanisms established to resolve the most serious global environmental issues of our time. It critically explores measures in international law and practice related to the hydrosphere (water bodies), atmosphere and biosphere (biodiversity). Special emphasis is placed on the regime governing climate change in law. The course also addresses relevant topical issues and debates such as ecocide, High Seas (BBNJ) Treaty and climate litigation.  

To provide students with a thorough understanding of the key principles and frameworks of global environmental and climate change law; 
- To equip students with the skills to critically analyse and evaluate environmental and climate change agreements, policies and regulations; 
- To address contemporary legal challenges related to global environmental issues and climate change, such as transboundary pollution, biodiversity conservation, and the rights of vulnerable communities; 
- To develop practical legal skills such as legal drafting, negotiation, and advocacy specific to environmental and climate change law; 
- To instil an understanding of the ethical dimensions of environmental and climate change law, considering the implications of legal decisions on present and future generations. 

Part I : Foundations 
- Week 1 : History and evolution of global environmental and climate change law 
- Week 2: Core principles of environmental protection 

Part II: Thematic regulation 
- Week 3: The biosphere (biodiversity, with emphasis on the new Biodiversity Framework) 
- Week 4: The hydrosphere (ocean and freshwater protection with reference to BBNJ) 

Part III: Focus on climate change 
- Week 5: UNFCCC, Kyoto and other key sources (with emphasis on loss and damage) 
- Week 6: The Paris Agreement  

Part IV: Implementation 
- Week 7: International adjudication 
- Week 8: Non-compliance mechanisms 
- Week 9: Interaction with other disciplines Pt. 1 (international humanitarian law, human rights law and international economic law) 
- Week 10: Interaction with other disciplines Pt. 2 (ecocide) 
 

The course will be taught via lectures conceived as interactive sessions / workshops. For each workshop, students will be required to be familiar with current practice, recent developments as well as the basic principles. The course will combine discussions on the policies, rules, and current practices.  

• Identify and explain the main processes of making international environmental and climate change law as well as new forms emerging in contemporary global contexts
• Identify and discuss contemporary global challenges in the legal context facing environmental degradation and climate change
• Distinguish and evaluate the range of actors involved in international environmental and climate change processes 
   

• Critically assess legal frameworks, policies, and arguments related to global environmental and climate change issues, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement
• Explain and evaluate the functioning of international legal systems, including the roles of international organizations, courts, and tribunals in addressing global environmental and climate change matters
• Formulate strategic approaches to address and solve environmental and climate change issues within the legal framework, considering long-term sustainability and global cooperation. 

• Interpret the rules of international law that shape and influence international environmental and climate change law
• Identify and critically assess contemporary international environmental and climate change issues in legal terms
• Critique the rules of international law that shape and influence international environmental and climate change law

Part I: Foundations
Week 1: History and evolution of global environmental and climate change law

Boyle, Alan, and Catherine Redgwell. Birnie, Boyle, and Redgwell's International Law and the Environment. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. Law Trove, 2021. doi: 10.1093/he/9780199594016.001.0001

Week 2: Core principles of environmental protection

Jacqueline Peel and Philippe Sands, Principles of International Environmental Law (CUP, 4th edition), p. 197 – 246

Part II: Thematic regulation 
Week 3: The biosphere (biodiversity, with emphasis on the new Biodiversity Framework)

Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework

Boyle, Alan, and Catherine Redgwell. Birnie, Boyle, and Redgwell's International Law and the Environment. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. Law Trove, 2021. doi: 10.1093/he/9780199594016.001.0001

Week 4: The hydrosphere (ocean and freshwater protection with reference to BBNJ)

BBNJ Treaty

Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Freshwater in International Law (CUP, 2nd edition)  

1997 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses

Nilufer Oral, “Freedom of the High Seas or Protection of the Marine Environment? A False Dichotomy

Part III: Focus on climate change

Week 5: UNFCCC, Kyoto and other key sources (with emphasis on loss and damage)

M.M. Betsill, N.K. Dubash, M. Paterson, H. van Asselt, A. Vihma and H. Winkler, ‘Building Productive Links between the UNFCCC and the Broader Climate Governance Landscape’ (2015) 15(2) Global Environmental Politics 1–10. (2021 Impact Factor: 4.145)

Rajamani L, ‘Addressing Loss and Damage from Climate Change Impacts’ (2015) 50(30) Economic and Political Weekly 17

Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Wong and Crampin, International Environmental Law: Text, Cases and Materials (Elgar 2022)

Week 6: The Paris Agreement  

Rajamani, Lavanya. “AMBITION AND DIFFERENTIATION IN THE 2015 PARIS AGREEMENT: INTERPRETATIVE POSSIBILITIES AND UNDERLYING POLITICS.” The International and Comparative Law Quarterly 65, no. 2 (2016): 493–514, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24762361

Dan Bodansky, “The Legal Character of the Paris Agreement”, RECIEL 2016

Part IV: Implementation 

Week 7: International adjudication

Justine Bendel, Litigating the Environment: Process and Procedure Before International Courts and Tribunals (Elgar 2023)

Christina Voigt, The Power of the Paris Agreement in International Climate Litigation, RECIEL 2023

Week 8: Non-compliance mechanisms

Justine Bendel and Yusra Suedi, “State-to-State procedures before Compliance Committees: Still Alive?’ in Christina Voigt and Caroline Foster (eds), International Courts versus Non-Compliance Mechanisms: Comparative Advantages in Strengthening Treaty Implementation (Cambridge University Press)

Malgosia Fitzmaurice, Environmental Compliance Control

Week 9: Interaction with other disciplines Pt. 1 (international humanitarian law, human rights law and international economic law)

Dupuy and Vinuales, “International Environmental Law as a Perspective” (CUP 2018), 355-501

Week 10: Interaction with other disciplines Pt. 2 (ecocide)

Legal definition of ecocide: https://www.stopecocide.earth/legal-definition

Jerome de Hemptinne, Ecocide: An Ambigous Crime?, https://www.ejiltalk.org/ecocide-an-ambiguous-crime/

Branch A, Minkova L. Ecocide, the Anthropocene, and the International Criminal Court. Ethics & International Affairs. 2023;37(1):51-79. doi:10.1017/S0892679423000059  

Supporting textbooks:

Boyle, Alan, and Catherine Redgwell. Birnie, Boyle, and Redgwell's International Law and the Environment. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. Law Trove