• Offered by ANU Law School
  • ANU College ANU College of Law
  • Course subject Laws
  • Areas of interest Law
  • Academic career UGRD
  • Course convener
    • James Prest
  • Mode of delivery In Person
  • Offered in First Semester 2019
     Second Semester 2019
     See Future Offerings
Environmental Law Clinic (LAWS4281)
The course aims include to: 
• Guide and support students in identifying, developing and applying practical legal skills in environmental and planning law. 
• Develop students’ critical understanding of legal practice approaches, the role of lawyers in relation to individual clients and environmental law issues.
• Contextualise the study of law, particularly environmental law and student learning in the wide range of other law courses. 
• Encourage, promote and validate student aspirations to promote access to justice and equality before the law specifically in relation to community needs to exercise their rights pursuant to environmental law both at local and Federal levels. 
• Encourage students to critically consider the effect of the law and its ability: 
a) to deliver improved environmental outcomes and 
b) to provide adequate recourse for the community to be heard on public interest environmental issues. 
 
The course provides clinical placement at the EDO ACT for between 8-10 students each semester. Attendance requirements include an orientation workshop, onsite participation at the EDO office one day a week, participation in weekly tutorials (reviewing relevant substantive areas of law and legal and social issues relating to the environmental law (ACT and Federal) and marked assessment pieces. 
Assessment requirements: onsite assessment, tutorial participation and preparation & presentation of a written project or seminar/forum. 
 

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

  1. describe and critique how advanced knowledge and skills acquired through the study of law relate to a legal practice setting, assisting individual clients and working for social justice,
  2. reflect on their personal motivation for studying law, their goals and career aspirations,
  3. apply a reflective and ethical approach in combination with a broad theoretical and professional knowledge, in performing paralegal tasks,
  4. recognise and apply improved practical legal skills particularly relating to work routines, communication with a variety of audiences, interviewing, writing, and legal research principles and methods,
  5. summarise and apply an advanced and coherent body of substantive legal knowledge about environmental justice, and knowledge of professional conduct rules and ethical practice,
  6. describe and distinguish a variety of justice issues with respect to community engagement with environmental law, and to critically analyse entrenched issues of injustice in the legal system,
  7. note, name and debate their enhanced interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence and self-awareness of their own cognitive abilities and values,
  8. describe and critique a range of legal practice approaches having regard to the legal needs of individual and group clients,
  9. analyse the predicament of individual and group clients having regard to the operation of the law and the legal system, 10. describe and critically assess a range of strategies to improve justice / social justice outcomes, 1
  10. identify and evaluate concrete and achievable ways in which they can promote access to justice and equality before the law, 1
  11. plan and execute a written research project, with some independence.

Indicative Assessment

  1. Onsite participation including quality of learning and performance (40) [LO null]
  2. Tutorial participation including quality of contributions made (10) [LO null]
  3. Research paper (2500 words) and presentation (50) [LO null]
  4. Attendance at the 2 day orientation workshop, mid and end of semester interviews and the research project presentation. No marks are assigned for attendance, but attendance is a requirement to pass the course. (0) [LO null]

The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.

Workload

Student work in this course averages approx. 12 per week consisting of: - Reading averaging approx 2 hours - Participating in tutorials averaging approx 2 hours - One 6 hour onsite session at the EDO ACT - Approx 2 hours per week work on research projectr - Mid and end of course interview of approx 1 hour in total.

Inherent Requirements

Not applicable

Requisite and Incompatibility

To enrol in this course you must be studying the Bachelor of Laws and have completed or be completing five LAWS 1000 level courses. An application process exists for this course, please contact the ANU College of Law.

You will need to contact the ANU Law School to request a permission code to enrol in this course.

Prescribed Texts

Practical Legal Skills, 3rd Edition, Ross Hyams, Susan Campbell and Adrian Evans, OUP, 2007
Bates, G. Environmental Law in Australia, 8th edition, 2013.

ACT Environmental Law Handbook, EDO ACT, 2nd Edition.  

There will be additional resources provided online for students through the Environmental Law Clinic page on the ANU’s Wattle learning system. 

Fees

Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.  

If you are a domestic graduate coursework or international student you will be required to pay tuition fees. Tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.

Student Contribution Band:
3
Unit value:
6 units

If you are an undergraduate student and have been offered a Commonwealth supported place, your fees are set by the Australian Government for each course. At ANU 1 EFTSL is 48 units (normally 8 x 6-unit courses). You can find your student contribution amount for each course at Fees.  Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.

Units EFTSL
6.00 0.12500

Course fees

Domestic International
Domestic fee paying students
Year Fee
2019 $3660
International fee paying students
Year Fee
2019 $5160
Note: Please note that fee information is for current year only.

Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

The list of offerings for future years is indicative only.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
2019
2020
2021

First Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
4775 25 Feb 2019 04 Mar 2019 31 Mar 2019 31 May 2019 In Person View

Second Semester

Class number Class start date Last day to enrol Census date Class end date Mode Of Delivery Class Summary
9780 22 Jul 2019 29 Jul 2019 31 Aug 2019 25 Oct 2019 In Person View

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