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Environmental Law

Code: 102227 ECTS Credits: 6
2024/2025
Degree Type Year
2500786 Law OT 4

Contact

Name:
Isabel Pont Castejón
Email:
isabel.pont@uab.cat

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

There are no prerequisites to take this subject.  The student must have enough  level of English to be able to read the materials provided and to follow the class in that language. The final exam could be taken in Catalan, Spanish, English, French, Italian or Portuguese.

 

The teaching of the subject will be taught taking into account the perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's)


Objectives and Contextualisation

Environmental Law is nowadays an area of great importance. Over the years it has become a captivating branch of law, involving international institutions, European Union, lobbies, business, all the levels of domestic public administrations, NGOs, etc...The Environmental Law Course is willing to analyze the powers and main instruments of Environmental Law, at the international and domestic level but focusing specially on the law of the European Union, because European law is often the source of the law being applied at the Member State level.

Students will have the opportunity to see how connected could be, in specific environmental cases, areas being apparently distant such as international law, European law, constitutional and administrative law, criminal and civil law.....

Besides analyzing which are the general principles of Environmental Law, we will examine all the most important areas of environmental policy (air, waste, water, nature and biodiversity, climate change).

The purpose, overall,  is to broaden your knowledge on such a fascinated area of the law by giving you the opportunity to use your legal skills and to realize how is nowadays the practice of the this  area of great importance.

Environmental Law involves today every institution, business and citizen...That is the reason why it is an interesting course for EU and non-EU students alike.

 


Competences

  • Arguing and laying the foundation for the implementation of legal standards.
  • Demonstrating a sensible and critical reasoning: analysis, synthesis, conclusions.
  • Efficiently managing information, being capable of assimilating a considerable volume of data in a limited amount of time.
  • Identifying, assessing and putting into practice changes in jurisprudence.
  • Managing bibliographic and documentary resources: databases, browsing, etc.
  • Mastering the computing techniques when it comes to obtaining legal information (legislation databases, jurisprudence, bibliography...) and in data communication.
  • Memorising and utilising legal terminology.
  • Present information in a way that is appropriate to the type of audience.
  • Students must be capable of communicating their points of view in a compelling way.
  • Working in teams, being either a member or a coordinator of working groups, as well as making decisions affecting the whole group.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Analysing the jurisprudential evolution.
  2. Applying the legal standards to concrete cases.
  3. Critically reflecting on jurisprudential decisions.
  4. Defining the legal administrative language.
  5. Demonstrating a sensible and critical reasoning: analysis, synthesis, conclusions.
  6. Distinguishing the jurisprudential evolution in the field of administrative law.
  7. Efficiently managing information, being capable of assimilating a considerable volume of data in a limited amount of time.
  8. Explaining the administrative legal standards.
  9. Managing bibliographic and documentary resources: databases, browsing, etc.
  10. Present information in a way that is appropriate to the type of audience.
  11. Reflecting on administrative standards.
  12. Searching sentences, articles, etc. in legal databases.
  13. Students must be capable of communicating their points of view in a compelling way.
  14. Students must be capable of expressing themselves with legal-administrative terminology.
  15. Using the computing legal sources of information.
  16. Working in teams, being either a member or a coordinator of working groups, as well as making decisions affecting the whole group.

Content

 

Part I: General Section

 

The goal of protecting the environment and the law.  Background. Main principles & features

International Environmental law. Actors. Principles. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's).The contribution of women to the subject of this course.

The importance of European environmental law; Powers, Governance, Decision-making; Enforcement and Implementation; the 8th Environmental Action Programme to 2030. The "Green Deal".

Domestic law.- powers , instruments, and administrative –public Entities- Organization for sustainability and protection of environment.

 

Part II: Cross-cutting instruments

 

Access to environmental information, Public Participation in Decision-Making procedures and Access to Justice in EnvironmentalMatters.

Environmental Liability; criminal law, torts and environment

Strategic Environmental Assessment of plans and programs -SEA- and  Environmental Impact Assessment of projects –EIA-

Preventing and controlling industrial emissions thorough permits

Voluntary instruments and Incentives for environmental protection. Environmental certification: ecolabel, green claims/greenwashing; EMAS, ISO's;  Social Corporate Responsibility. 

 

Part III:  Substantive Environmental Law; Integration.

 

Water protection

Coastal and marine environmental protection

Air quality and air pollution; the law of Climate Change; noise; light pollution ; odor control laws

Waste;  Land Pollution; Circular Economy; harmful substances.

Biodiversity; environmental protected areas and species; landscape protection

Integration of environment policy into other sectorial policies: Agriculture; Transport; Energy….


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
theoretical classes 22 0.88 1, 4, 6, 8, 3, 11
practical sessions 22 0.88 2, 12, 13, 5, 14, 7, 9, 11, 16, 15
Type: Supervised      
tutorial 6 0.24 8, 14, 3, 11
Type: Autonomous      
Read articles, laws and judicial decisions 26 1.04 12, 7, 16, 15
Study 34 1.36 2, 12, 6, 11, 15
assessment 0 0 8
writing and presentation of different exercises 32 1.28 1, 2, 12, 13, 5, 7, 9, 16, 15

 

Teaching and seminars will be face-to-face.

During the course we will read and comment several legal materials. Each week the professor will tell what should be prepared for next week (documents, websites to be consulted….). The students should read these materials recommended before the class.

During the sessions, and in addition to the professor's explanations, some specific real cases will be studied through resolutions, judicial decisions and news from the media.

Students will do several exercises in class, directed by the professor and other autonomous activities independently,individually or in a group. Students will participate during the classes.

There will be a written exam at the middle of the course and another one at the end of the course. These exams will consist of different questions to be developed.  

Students who fail any of these written exams, may re-take them on the official date set for the re-evaluation.

 

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignments and participation of the student 30% 6 0.24 2, 12, 13, 5, 8, 14, 7, 9, 10, 3, 16, 15
Midterm and final written exam 30% & 40% 2 0.08 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 11, 15

 

Ordinary assessment

 

In each teaching group,  the dates of the evaluation activities will be published on the Virtual Campus. Exceptionally and for reasons of force majeure, with sufficient notice and in advance, could be modified.

 

The final grade given to the student  will be calculated  the following way:  30% from a Midterm exam:  40% from another written exam to be taken at the end of the course; Finally,  the last 30% of the assessment will derive from the assignments and participation of the student during the course.

 

Written exams could be taken by students in english, french, portuguese, italian, catalan or spanish language.  Students who fail any of these written exams, may re-take them on the official date set for the re-evaluation.

 

Students will be assessable as long as they have completed a set of activities whose weight is equivalent to a minimum of 2/3 of the total grade for the subject. If the value of the activities carried out does not reach this threshold, the subject teacher may consider the student as non-evaluable

 

A student who cheats or try to cheat an exam will have a 0 as a mark.  For this kind of conducts students could fail the subject.

 

Single (integrated) assessment:

When the student decides to follow the single assessment system there will be 3 assessable activities: A) Legal advice of (30%); B) Resolution of a practical case (30%); and C) writing an exam (40/%). On the day of the final written exam, the teacher will also be given the documents corresponding to the other two activities.
										
											
										
											If the final written exam is not passed (it has been suspended), it may be re-evaluated on the day officially assigned by the faculty for this purpose.

Regarding the "non-evaluable" (no evaluable)  grade, the same criteria will be applied as for the continuous evaluation (regular).





Bibliography

The existing bibliography on environmental law is very rich. At the beginning of the course the professor will specify what is specially recommended.

 

A) Mandatory readings

As we have said, during the course we will read and comment several materials. Each week the professor will tell the students which of them should be prepared for next session (documents, websites to be consulted….)

 

B) Recommended readings

The following list includes general books devoted to domestic environmental law (I) and also some very relevant international and European environmental law references (II) and useful websites (III)

 

I. Domestic environmental law 

 

- 

 

- ALONSO GARCÍA, Enrique. y LOZANO CUTANDA, Blanca. (Dir.), Diccionario de Derecho Ambiental, Iustel, Madrid, 2006.

 -ALONSO GARCIA, Enrique,  ORTEGA ALVAREZ Luis. Tratado de derecho ambiental, Tirant lo Blanch, 2013

 -ARANA García, Estanislao; Torres López, María Asunción, Derecho Ambiental.3ed. Tecnos 2018

- AUDIVERT ARAU, Rafael.,Régimen jurídico de la etiqueta ecológica, Cedecs, Barcelona, 1996

 - BETANCOR RODRÍGUEZ, Andres., Derecho Ambiental, la Ley, 2014.

 - CAMPINS ERITJA, Mar. et al ( PONT CASTEJON, Isabel).,Environmental Law in Spain, Kluwer Law, 2nd ed. 2014-

 - CASADO CASADO, Lucía. i FUENTES i GASÓ, Josep Ramon., Medi ambient i ens locals, Cedecs, Barcelona, 2008-

 -CASADO CASADO, Lucía. i PONT CASTEJÓN, Isabel., “La elasticidadde las competencias normativas en materia ambiental: querer es poder”, a El derecho administrativo en el umbral del siglo XXI:homenaje al profesor Dr. D. Ramón Martín Mateo, Madrid, 2000.

 - ESTEVE PARDO, José., Derecho de Medio Ambiente, Marcial Pons, 4a .Ed. 2017

- FERNANDEZ de GATTA, Dionisio,  Sistema jurídico Adiministrativo de protección del medio ambiente, Editorial: Ratio Legis, 9ª ed 2020

- LAVILLA ROVIRA, Juan Jose., MENÉNDEZ ARIAS, Maria José., (coord.) (PONT CASTEJON), Todo sobre el Medio Ambiente , Praxis, Barcelona, 1996.

 -LOPEZ RAMON, Fernando coord ( et al. Post 2021) (coord), Observatorio de Políticas Ambientales ( edición anual).

 -LOZANO CUTANDA, Blanca., Derecho Ambiental Administrativo, 11ª ed. LA LEY, Madrid, 2011.

 -LOZANO CUTANDA, Blanca. (Directora), LAGO CANDEIRA, Alejandro. y LÓPEZ ÁLVAREZ, Luis Felipe.,Tratado de Derecho Ambiental, Ediciones CEF, Madrid, 2014.

 - LOZANO CUTANDA, Blanca., y ALLI TURRILLAS, Juan Cruz., Administración y Legislación Ambiental, Dykinson, Madrid, 11 ed. 2020

 - MartÍn Mateo, Ramón., Tratado de Derecho Ambiental, Trivium, Madrid, 4 Vols; MARTÍN MATEO, Ramón., Manual de Derecho Ambiental, Aranzadi, Navarra, 3a. Ed. 2005

 -NIETO MORENO, Juan Emilio., Elementos estructurales de la evaluación ambiental de planes y programas, Aranzadi, 2011.

 - ORTEGA ÁLVAREZ, Luis., ALONSO GARCÍA, Consuelo y VICENTE MARTÍNEZ, Rosario de., Tratado de Derecho Ambiental, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 2013

-OPAM ( amb participació d' Isabel Pont Castejón  i de Juan Emilio Nieto Moreno . Edició anual: https://www.actualidadjuridicaambiental.com/observatorio-de-politicas-ambientales)

- PONS CÀNOVAS, Ferran., “Intervención pública en la actividad privada para la protección ambiental. Limitaciones a los derechos de propiedad y de libertad de empresa”, a Diccionario de Derecho Ambiental, Enrique Alonso García y Blanca Lozano Cutanda (Directors), Iustel, Madrid, 2006. pp. 778 a 789.

 - PONS CÀNOVAS, Ferran., “Puertos, urbanismo y medio ambiente”, a Obras públicas, urbanismo y medio ambiente, Fernando López Ramón y Víctor Escartín Escudé (Coords.), Marcial Pons, 2013.

 - PONT CASTEJÓN, Isabel., “El procedimiento administrativo de autorización de vertidos a aguas continentales ante elreto de una Administración hidráulica eficaz”, a Revista Aranzadi de derecho ambiental, núm. 5, 2004, pp. 15 a 36.

 -PONT CASTEJÓN, Isabel. “Un nuevo reto en materia competencial: Estado y Comunidades Autónomas ante las exigencias del Protocolo de Kyoto”, a Los retos de la aplicación del protocolo de Kyoto en España y Canadá, Mar Campins Eritja (Coord.), 2005.

 - PONT CASTEJÓN, I., "Medio Ambiente" a Derecho Administrativo Práctico, Tirant lo Blanch, Valencia, 1997, pp. 303-331.

 - PONT CASTEJÓN, Isabel. i CAMPINS ERITJA, Mar., (Coord.), Perspectives de Dret Comunitari Ambiental, Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 1997.

- CAMPINS, M; CASADO, L; NIETO, J.E; PIGRAU, A; PONT, I; Environmental Law in Spain, WolterKluwers-kluwer Law International, The Netherlands, 2014

- TORRES LÓPEZ, Maria Asunción. y ARANA GARCÍA, Estanislao. (Directors), Derecho Ambiental, Tecnos, Madrid, 3a.ed 2018

 

II)  International, comparative and European Environmental Law

 

BELL, Stuart ( Donald McGillivray, Ole Pedersen, Emma Lees, Elen Stokes);  Environmental  Law; Oxford University Press, 10 ed. 2024

BIRNIE, P.W.-BOYLE, A.E., REDGWELL, C.,International Law and Environment, 3a ed. Oxford UniversityPress, 2009. ( updated -Fourth Edition- in 2021)

BROWN WEISS, E. (Edited), Environmental Challenge and International Law, The United Nations University Press, 1992.; International Environmental Law, Second Edition (Casebook) 2nd Edition, 2006

CLÉMENT, Marc. Droit européen de l'environnement.Jurisprudence commentée, ed, Larcie, 4ème édition 2021

DE SADELEER Nicolas. EU environmental law and the internal market. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014

FAJARDO,Teresa.  La política exterior de la Uión Europea en materia ambiental, Tecnos, 2005

JANS, Jan ; Hans H.B. Vedder; European Environmental Law, Europa law Publishing ( Fourth Edition) 2012

JUSTE RUIZ, J., CASTILLO DAUDÍ,M., la protección del medio ambiente en el ámbito internacional y en laUnión europea, Tirant lo Blanc, Valencia, 2014

HAIGH, Nigel, EU Environmental Policy:Its jouney to Centre Stage. 2016.

Kingston, Suzanne; Heyvaert Veerle; Čavoški , Aleksandra - European Environmental Law, Cambridge University Press 2017

KISS, Alexandre., SHELTON, Dinah., A Guide to International Environmental Law, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2007

KRAMER, Ludwig. EU Environmental Law, Sweet and Maxwell, 9th ed. 2024

KRAMER, Ludwig Environmental Justice and European Union Law,Croatian Yearbook of European Law and Policy 16 , December 2020, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348484000_Environmental_Justice_and_European_Union_Law

-LEE, Maria; EU Environmental Law, Governance and Decision-Making, 2nd Ed. 2014

MACRORY (2014),Regulation, Enforcement and Governance of Environmental Law, 2nd edition HartPublishing, Oxford

MACRORY et al. (2004), Principles of European Environmental Law. Europa Law Publishing.

MORENO MOLINA, A. El derecho del cambio climático: Retos, instrumentos y litigios Tirant lo Blanch (2023)

SALZMAN, JAMES, Environmental Law and Policy (USA), 2022 https://archive.org/details/environmentallaw0000salz_j7n2/page/n9/mode/2up

SANDS, Philippe. PEEL Jacqueline, Principlesof International Environmental Law, Cambridge University Press, 4d  Ed., Manchester/N.Y., 2018

2nd Edition: https://www.academia.edu/37547219/Philippe_Sands_Principles_of_Int_Environmental_Law

THORNTON, James; GOODMAN, Martin, CLIENT EARTH 2017. Scribe Publications (May 11, 2017)

-VAN CARLSTER, Geert, EU Environmental Law, Elgar European Law series, 2017

 

 

III) General Websites useful for our purposes

Official website European Union http://europa.eu/index_en.htm

Training Package on Principles of EU Environmental Law http://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/law/principles.htm

EU Environmenal Law Training Package. https://ec.europa.eu/environment/legal/law/training_package.htm

Summaries of the European environmental and climate change legislation https://eur-lex.europa.eu/summary/chapter/20.html

Official Journal of the European Union http://eur-lex.europa.eu/oj/direct-access.html?locale=en

European Commission (Environment) : https://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm

https://ieep.uk/work-streams/divergence-in-uk-eu-environment-policy/access-ieep-definitive-guide-to-european-environmental-policy/

European Environment Agency  http://www.eea.europa.eu

PNUMA (United Nations Program for Environment  https://www.unep.org/

Council of Europe. “Manual on human rights and the environment"; https://www.coe.int/en/web/human-rights-intergovernmental-cooperation/-/manual-on-human-rights-and-the-environment

European Court of Human rights  http://hudoc.echr.coe.int

IEEP ( Institut for European Environmental Policy) https://ieep.eu/

EEB (European Environamental Bureau) https://eeb.org

 


Software

The  course does not require any specific software


Language list

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(PAUL) Classroom practices 51 English first semester afternoon
(TE) Theory 51 English first semester afternoon