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Course

Land and Environment Court Clinic - LAWS3302

Faculty: Faculty of Law

School: Faculty of Law

Course Outline: See below

Campus: Sydney

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 3

Enrolment Requirements:

Required: Principles of Public Law (LAWS1141/JURD7141), Administrative Law (LAWS1160/JURD7160), Equity & Trusts (LAWS2385/JURD7285) OR Public Law (LAWS1104/JURD7140), Administrative Law (LAWS1160/JURD7160), Property, Equity & Trusts 1 (LAWS2381/JURD7281)

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

Description

Created in response to widespread calls for environmental protection and public participation in NSW in the 1970s, the opening of the Land and Environment Court in 1980 was significant far beyond NSW. The Land and Environment Court was the world’s first specialist environmental court created as a superior court of record, and its jurisprudence has played a critical role in the development of environmental law in NSW, nationally and internationally. Today, the Land and Environment Court remains at the forefront of environmental law, helping to develop the law around new issues such as climate change law.
The Land and Environment Court Clinic is an experiential learning program. In this course students will put their legal skills and knowledge to use and gain practical experience of the law in action. At the same time they will be critically analysing the effect of law and legal policy on clients and the environment in a court setting.
The Land and Environment Court Clinic is one of the elective subjects for law and will normally be taken after completion of AWS8071/JURD7371 Development and Planning Law, or Environmental Law LAWS3361/JURD7361 Environmental Law. It fits within the Environmental law stream, which includes such subjects such as Climate Law, Natural Resources Law and Environmental Markets. It provides a good grounding for further studies in this area.

Recommended Knowledge

A working knowledge of the Australian legal system. Previously completing Administrative Law (LAWS1160)and Development and Planning Law (LAWS8072) or Environmental Law (LAWS3361) is desirable.

Learning Outcomes

Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
  • Understand the fundamentals of legal processes and practice and procedure in the Land and Environment Court.
  • Think critically about the role of Courts and planning and environmental law and the impact on the community.
  • Conduct academic research on planning and environmental law.
  • Understand and be able to think critically about government legislative policy in planning and environmental law.
  • Understand and be able to think critically about the legal processes in planning and environmental law and their impact on disadvantaged communities.
  • Engage in informed discussion on planning and environmental law and policy.

Main Topics

During the seminars, students will discuss topics including:
  • Significance of the LEC, relationship to other courts
  • Jurisdiction of the LEC
  • Planning disputes and planning principles
  • Trees disputes
  • ADR in the LEC
  • Access to justice in the LEC
  • Public interest environmental law
  • Practice in the Court by solicitors
  • Practice in the Court by barristers
  • Expert witnesses
Student activities during attendance at Court will vary depending on matters before the Court. Students will be given an induction and registry familiarisation at the start of their first day in Court. The types of activities students may be involved in during their placements include:
  • Attending an on-site hearing
  • Attending an on-site conciliation conference
  • Observing concurrent evidence given during the course of an in--court hearing
  • Attending a Registrar's callover list
  • Sitting in court to observe a judge hearing a criminal or civil enforcement matter

Assessment

Class Participation, including presentation
Research Project
Court Evaluation
Beautiful Ferns

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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