Law and science and environmental justice in the curriculum

Sharron McEldowney (University of Westminster) will present a paper at the UKCLE event on Environmental justice in legal education on 29 March 2010. She will explain how an understanding of sound science as a basis for environmental justice may be integrated more fully into the curriculum.

Science has played a fundamental role in beginning to unravel the future of global change and our manifold impacts on the environment. Today the environmental agenda is shaped through an essential collaboration between scientific and non-science disciplines. The emergence of China and India as important industrialised regions of the new global economy has drawn attention to the importance of global collaboration on environmental matters and the role of international law and regulation in protecting the environment. Lessons from the development of EU and UK environmental law are important to share and the opportunity for the new economies to learn from the mistakes of western economic growth and development should not be missed.

The future directions of environmental law have always been resistant to prediction, as environmental law has tended to evolve in an organic way. Historically, environmental law grew out of a response to problems of pollution and the demands of improving public health. This evolutionary process has continued. It has responded to new developments in science and technology, and scientific research has provided a more evaluative basis for environmental law. The European Union has had major influence in shaping the environmental law of the UK. As a consequence of these influences environmental law has begun to become less reactive and more proactive in environmental protection. One reason for a more proactive approach is that the techniques now available to environmental lawyers to help address environmental problems has widened and diversified. Environmental lawyers continue to draw on distinct areas of the law such as criminal law, the law of property, contract and tort as well as planning and administrative law – but the whole is greater than the parts and environmental law has its own language and legal rules. Human rights and the environment have added a fresh and dynamic dimension to environmental law especially when environmental rights are considered. What is required is a much more holistic approach to the environment than in the past and a realisation of our reliance on the environment and its often scarce resources. Law students need to appreciate the diverse influences on environmental law and in particular the contribution of science to environmental law.

How to bring law and science together in law teaching: classroom-based learning

The case study method related to a specific environmental problem is probably the most effective. The skills set that an environmental law student would gain from a case study approach includes:

• intellectual tasks – thinking like a lawyer and thinking like a scientist
• legal literacy – examining legal analysis, case law and statutory interpretation
• scientific literacy – explaining scientific terms and acronyms, and also how scientific proof is compared to legal proof
• application of abstract legal doctrines to practical situations
• synthesis of ideas and analysis
• evaluation of key concepts and examples
• learning in context and understanding practical environmental problems in different professional and social situations
• comparing legal and scientific competences

Two examples indicate how this may be used:

1. A study of genetically modified organisms. This would include EU regulation, a study of a particular crop such as GM wheat; a cross comparison between the underpinning science (recombinant organisms, understanding hazard and risk); the role of scientific advice and advisory panels; pressure groups and the media as well as the application of regulation and best practice.
2. A study of the Environment Agency control of point source pollution.This would cover collecting scientific data and how this is undertaken; setting discharge standards and the effectiveness of prosecution policy in terms of fines and deterrence. This would also introduce students to the recent MacRory Reforms as well as the need for sound science in successful prosecutions.

About Sharron
Sharron McEldowney is a principal lecturer in the School of Biosciences at the University of Westminster. She has written extensively in the area of law and environment.

Last Modified: 4 June 2010