Environmental Law
August 2003 Newsletter
Once again there have been some exciting developments with respect to both our programmes and the Centre itself and we are delighted to have this opportunity to bring you up to date. In addition, we are going to profile our postgraduate doctoral students individually on a regular basis and provide our readers with a brief description of their respective areas of research.
MU-CEL Academic Staff News
Prof. Michael Jeffery QC, MU-CEL’s Director and Deputy Chair of the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Commission on Environmental Law has been invited to attend and present a paper at the Vth IUCN World Parks Congress (WPC) in Durban, South Africa (8 – 16 September 2003). As part of the IUCN’s Environment Law Centre’s contribution to the WPC programmes and on behalf of Parks Canada, Michael was the lead author of Part Two of a four-part paper entitled An International Regime for Protected Areas. The entire paper should be available on the MU-CEL web site shortly. For those of you interested in the work of the WPC held only once every 10 years, please visit the IUCN’s web site ‘www.iucn.org’.
Professor Jeffery has also been invited to present a paper titled The Impact of Trade and Intellectual Property Rights on Biodiversity Conservation: Setting the Boundaries at the 21st Biennial Conference on the Law of the World sponsored by the World Jurists Association in Adelaide on 22 August 2003. The programme begins in Sydney on the 17th of August and then moves to Adelaide on the 21st and wraps up on the 23rd of August. This is the first time that this Conference has been held in Australia. More information may be found on the World Jurists Association’s web site: ‘www.worldjurist.org’.
In early November, Michael and Donna Craig will be attending the launch of the IUCN’s Academy of Environmental Law to be held at Shanghai’s Jiao Tong University. This important event will be held in conjunction with the Academy’s first colloquium on the theme of the Law for Sustainable Energy. Professor Jeffery will be presenting a paper on Foundations in University Education as part of a panel discussing - Building Capacity for Compliance & Enforcement: A prerequisite to Successful Management of Sustainable Energy Regimes. Colloquium papers will be published in the Annals of the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law.
The Academy’s launch and Colloquium will be preceded by a meeting of the Steering Committee of the IUCN’s Commission on Environmental Law to be attended by Professor Jeffery in his capacity as Deputy Chair.
In December 2003, Michael will be one of the main speakers at the Intellectual Property & Biological Resources Law and Policy Conference to be held in Singapore. More details about this important initiative and MU-CEL’s role in it will be set out later in this newsletter.
Assoc/Prof. Donna Craig, MU-CEL’s Associate Director and Director of the Centre’s Indigenous Law Programme has been appointed Director of MU-CEL's Postgraduate Coursework Programmes. Donna has also been appointed Deputy Chair of the Macquarie University Research Grants Subcommittee. She will be Acting Chair for several months this semester and this is a rare honour for a lawyer from the humanities disciplines. Donna is continuing her central role in four major international environmental and Indigenous organisations. In addition, she has recently been invited to become a member of the Expert Panel researching and advising on Indigenous issues for the Murray - Darling Basin Commission.
In October, 2003 Donna will attend a present a paper at a symposium on Relationships Between Aboriginal People and Land Management Issues in New South Wales: Barriers and Bridges to Successful Partnerships sponsored by the Institute for Conservation Biology & NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service to be held at the University of Wollongong. Her paper will be on Native Title And Other Options For Conservation And Land Management.
Donna has been extended a special invitation to attend the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law launch in Shanghai and to present a report to the Steering Committee of the IUCN's Commission on Environmental Law on the activities of the IUCN - CEL Specialist Group on Indigenous Peoples and Environmental Law of which she is co-convenor. In this role, she was the principal organiser of a workshop for the Specialist Group in Fiji in April. She will also be a co-organiser of their next meeting to be held jointly with the Forest Stewardship Council to develop the Indigenous Principles under the Forest Certification Scheme. This meeting will be held in Quito, Ecuador in February 2004 and there will likely be ongoing work in this area.
Donna will also present a paper on Indigenous Intellectual and Cultural Property Rights and Biodiversity at the Singapore conference in December on Intellectual Property & Biological Resources: Law and Policy.
Donna's two-volume book on Capacity Building for Environmental Law in the Asian and Pacific Region is about to be released as a second edition. It is being sold on-line through major distributors such as Barnes & Noble and amazon.com. She has received requests for a second edition of her book: Indigenous Peoples and Governance Structures: A Comparative Analysis of Land and Resource Rights to be published overseas for the international market. Her recently published article on Indigenous co-management in Canada and Australia has also attracted critical acclaim in Australia and overseas.
Ms Susan Shearing, Associate Lecturer, has totally revised the materials for the postgraduate Local Government Law unit. Susan will shortly undertake a similar revision of the postgraduate Heritage Law and Policy materials. She has been working with Michael and the team of student volunteers to establish the Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law (see below).
Susan’s current research projects include an examination of the recent package of Commonwealth heritage legislation which impacts upon the conservation of heritage places. Susan is also researching taxation incentives to encourage private land holders to conserve biodiversity on their land, including recent amendments to income and capital gains tax legislation.
Prof. Zada Lipman has left MU-CEL to join the Department of Law of Macquarie University’s Division of Law. In MU-CEL’s February 2003 newsletter, it was mentioned that Zada would be convening a new MU-CEL postgraduate unit, Biodiversity Law, in second semester 2003. This unit will be offered as an external unit only to both undergraduate and postgraduate students in second semester, but will instead be convened and taught by Professor Jeffery.
Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law (MJICEL)
In our last newsletter MU-CEL announced plans to establish a refereed international environmental law journal later this year - the Macquarie Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law. We are pleased to report that we have assembled an exceptional and prestigious Editorial Board comprised of thirteen leading international environmental lawyers and academics from twelve countries representing all of the major regions of the world. The Journal is supported by its patron, the Honourable Justice Paul Stein AM, recently retired from the NSW Court of Appeal and formerly a judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court. Professor Michael Jeffery will serve as the Journal's Editor-in-Chief and Ms Susan Shearing as Faculty Advisor. In addition, a number of Macquarie law students from MU-CEL's volunteer programme will be assisting throughout the year in the production of this long-awaited addition to the development of environmental law.
A brochure for the Journal together with information on contributions and subscriptions is enclosed with this newsletter. Information with respect to the Journal can also be found on MU-CEL's web site: http://www.law.mq.edu.au/HTML/MUCEL/resources/publications.htm
The formal launch of this new publication is planned for later this year with the first issue to be published before Christmas if all goes well. The deadline for receiving contributions to the Journal’s inaugural issue is 15 October 2003.
We encourage contributions from students, academics and practitioners in the form of articles, casenotes, legislative comments or book reviews. Please direct all inquiries and/or contributions to Susan Shearing - Ph: + 61 2 9850 6883; e-mail: susan.shearing@law.mq.edu.au
MU-CEL'S Volunteer Programme
We particularly want to extend our thanks to the many students who have volunteered and assisted in MU-CEL activities over the past number of months including the Environmental Tax Conference held in June and co-hosted by MU-CEL and the Department of Business Law. The brochure for the Journal was also designed primarily by our enthusiastic volunteers. In the coming months we will better organise the volunteer programme to take full advantage of the generous offer of their time and effort. Please check the MU-CEL web site for updates and projects.
MU-CEL'S PhD Programme
MU-CEL has a rapidly growing number of PhD students undertaking innovative and exciting research. In order to highlight some of this work we will individually profile our PhD candidates in these newsletters. It is our pleasure to introduce Mr. David Leary undertaking cutting edge research on hydrothermal vents under the supervision of Professor Michael Jeffery.
David graduated from the University of NSW with combined degrees of Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) and Bachelor of Laws in 1992. In 2001 he completed a Master of Laws degree in International Law at the University of NSW, with a particular emphasis on international environmental law.
Except for a short period teaching overseas, he practised as a Solicitor and Barrister from 1992 until early 2002 in NSW and WA.
In 2002 he was awarded a PhD Scholarship tenureable in CEL. His research interests include marine environmental law with a particular emphasis on the conservation of deep-sea biodiversity and the biodiversity of the high seas. He is currently working on a PhD thesis considering various options for an international legal regime for the regulation of access to, and conservation of, hydrothermal vent ecosystems and the sustainable use of their biological, genetic and other resources.
Hydrothermal vents (or deep sea submarine volcanic springs) located several kilometres below the ocean surface on the deep ocean floor support a range of unique species found no where else on earth. Significant advances in science including advances in microbiology, biotechnology, new theories about the origin of life on earth and the search for life in outer space are all the direct result of the discovery of hydrothermal vents and their associated biological communities.
Heat loving microbes associated with the biological communities of hydrothermal vents are of interest to a range of scientists and commercial interests, including companies keen to exploit the perceived huge economic potential of hydrothermal vent genetic resources and their possible applications in biotechnology. The rich mineral resources associated with hydrothermal vents are also of interest to scientists and some mining companies.
Increasingly in the past few years there have been calls for regulation of activities that pose a threat to the species of hydrothermal vents and the biodiversity of the deep sea more generally. Marine Scientific Research, bioprospecting, deep sea mining, pollution, alien invasive species and surprisingly even deep sea tourism have all been identified as posing threats to hydrothermal vent biological communities. While these threats have been identified at a general level the extent of these threats is not yet fully understood.
Mining activities on the high seas are governed by the provisions of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea but activities such as bioprospecting are totally unregulated. David’s thesis is examining both the extent of threats to these ecosystems and possible ways in which a legal regime for the sustainable management, conservation and use of these ecosystems and their associated resources could be achieved. A particular focus of the research is the extent and nature of bioprospecting and commercialisation of the genetic resources of hydrothermal vents.
Given that these ecosystems are predominantly located in international waters, at greats depths and endure extremes of pressure, temperature and are in total darkness, the sustainable management and use of these ecosystems present unique difficulties for legal regime design.
In the course of his candidature David has also participated in two major international workshops looking at these issues and the conservation of high seas biodiversity more generally. In January 2003 David participated in the High Seas Experts Workshop in Malaga, Spain with funding for his attendance in part provided by the Division of Law. This workshop was convened by the IUCN and WWF and attended by 40 world experts in the areas of marine science and law. David also recently participated in the Cairns High Seas Biodiversity workshop convened by Environment Australia and Fisheries and Ocean Canada. This was attended by scientists, policy makers, academics and lawyers from 40 nations, as well as several United Nations bodies, such as the International Seabed Authority, Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Maritime Organisation.
David has also presented papers from his research at a number of conferences including the World Congress on Aquatic Protected Areas in 2002, and will present a paper on emerging legal regimes regulating bioprospecting at hydrothermal vents at the International Marine Biotechnology Conference in Tokyo in September 2003. While in Japan, David will also be conducting a number of interviews as part of his research. Attendance at this conference and the conduct of research in Japan has been made possible by funding from Macquarie Universities Post-graduate Research Fund. David’s application for this funding received a commendation from the University Research Grants Committee.
International Academic Affiliations
MU-CEL has been busy in the past year putting in place a series of strategic academic affiliations with leading universities, environmental law centres and other institutions. These important links will facilitate cooperative research, student and faculty exchanges, on-line delivery of units of study and a host of other benefits. To date Memoranda of Understanding have been signed with Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Beppu, Japan; The Asia-Pacific Centre for Environmental Law of the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore (APCEL); and Pace University’s Centre for Environmental Legal Studies. In addition MU-CEL and APCEL have signed a further MOU that includes WWF-India.
In the past three months MOUs have been signed with the Washington College of Law, American University, Washington DC; the James E. Rogers School of Law at the University of Arizona at Tucson; and the United Nations University/ Institute of Advanced Studies, Tokyo. MU-CEL is continuing negotiations with the University of Colorado’s Natural Resources Law Centre and the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria, Canada.
In addition, we are pleased to advise that arrangements are now under way to place our first students in the Environmental Law and Policy Clinic elective that was recently introduced into MU-CEL's postgraduate programmes. Please check MU-CEL's web site for regular updates
MU-CEL to Co-host 2005 IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Colloquium
As mentioned above the launch of the IUCN's Academy of Environmental Law and the first Colloquium on the Law for Sustainable Energy will take place in Shanghai, China in the first week of November 2003. MU-CEL, through Professor Michael Jeffery, has been involved in the preparatory discussions and meetings leading up to the establishment of the Academy and Macquarie University will become one of its founding members. This initiative has the strong support of the Vice-Chancellor, Emeritus Professor Di Yerbury.
MU-CEL in conjunction with the New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law of the Faculty of Law, University of Auckland have been selected to jointly host the Academy's 2005 Colloquium. The theme of the colloquium will be "Biodiversity Law" and will likely take place in early July 2005 with two days of the colloquium being held in Auckland and a further two days being held in Sydney. More information will be provided over the months to follow and regular updates will be posted to the MU-CEL web site.
MU-CEL Postgraduate Coursework Unit Offerings for 2004
The following MU-CEL postgraduate units will be available to eligible students enrolled in MU-CEL environmental law LLM, Masters, Diploma and Certificate programmes. We anticipate sufficient student numbers for all of these units to be viable but we are subject to the normal university policy concerning minimum enrolments.
SEMESTER ONE *
Law 816/Law852 Trade and Environment Law (Prof. Michael Jeffery)
Law 845/Law858 Pollution and Environmental Regulation (Prof. Zada Lipman)
Law 811/Law855 Environmental Law and Ethics –(A/Prof. Donna Craig)
Law814/Law850 Environmental Law and Corporate Regulation (A/Prof. Donna Craig)
Law878/Law879 Environmental Law and Policy Clinic (Prof. Michael Jeffery)
Law 808/Law857 Environmental Litigation & Mediation (Prof. Michael Jeffery)
SEMESTER TWO *
Law817/Law853 Comparative Environmental Law (A/Prof. Donna Craig)
Law804/Law859 Heritage Law and Policy (Ms Susan Shearing)
Law 807/Law861 Local Government Law (Ms Susan Shearing)
Law826/Law867 Marine Environmental Law and Policy (Prof. Zada Lipman)
Law 806/Law860 International Environmental Law (Prof. Michael Jeffery)
Law 878/Law879 Environmental Law and Policy Clinic (Prof. Michael Jeffery)
*Legal research dissertation - a legal research dissertation may be undertaken as a unit offering in the LLM and Masters programmes. It is possible to undertake the dissertation over 1 or 2 semesters. Please check course codes in the Handbook of Postgraduate Studies. Students should also note that LLM course codes for units are different to the course codes for same units in the Masters, Diploma and Certificate programmes. Students should ensure that they enroll in units bearing the correct course codes.
Undergraduate LLB Environmental Units (2004)
Environmental Law 510 will be convened by A/Prof. Donna Craig and co-taught by her and Ms Susan Shearing in first semester 2004.
Prof. Michael Jeffery will convene and teach International Environmental Law 519 in second semester 2004.
Both of these units will undergo a comprehensive review and the convenors will prepare new coursework material.
New Postgraduate Degrees to be Offered in 2004
MU-CEL new postgraduate programmes commence in 2004. They are in the international environmental law area:
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LLM (International Environmental Law) - for students with a law degree;
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Masters/Diploma/Certificate of International Environmental Law - for lawyers and non-lawyers.
The core units required are International Environmental Law and Environmental Law and Ethics. The remainder of the units can be chosen from the existing options available in the other environmental law programmes. LLM students should note that they need to enrol using different unit numbers; the assessment requirements are modified and they can choose from all of the units offered in the Masters Programmes except for Law 856 Environmental Economics.
New Double Degrees: Master of International Environmental Law and Master of International Relations
Students at Macquarie University are eligible to undertake two Masters Degrees, requiring 12 units and 18 months of study, provided they do four common courses in the two degrees. The Centre for Environmental Law and the Department of Politics and International Relations are currently applying for this arrangement to be recognised. This will enable student to undertake a double Masters degrees in International Environmental Law and International Relations. The Masters in International Environmental Law will not officially commence until first semester 2004.
Transfer and Articulation in Environmental Law Degrees and Programmes
It is possible to transfer from one environmental law masters degree to another with credit being granted for the Units successfully completed. It is also possible to articulate from a Certificate to a Diploma and Masters Degree. However there are very specific rules that apply to this process. You must not graduate in the Certificate, Diploma or Masters Degree before you change your qualification or Degree and you require permission of the Director of the MU-CEL Postgraduate Coursework Programmes. Please seek advice on this matter (from Susan Wards).
Postgraduate Research Scholarships - Masters and PhD Applications
Macquarie University International Office has recently announced some limited scholarships for Masters Degree study. Details are available from the International Office and website. The University is also offering very generous scholarships for Australian and New Zealand students (RAACE Scholarship) and overseas students (iMURS Scholarships). The details are on the University website and the MU-CEL website. Students need to apply for admission to the PhD programme (acceptable topic and supervisor) and additionally apply for the Scholarship.
MU-CEL Administration/Academic Advice Update
Please note that A/Prof. Donna Craig is now the Director of MU-CEL's Postgraduate Coursework Programmes. Both Professor Michael Jeffery and Donna Craig are available for academic advice on any of our programmes. Currently, Susan Wards provides a wide range of administrative advice and assistance. It is possible that her administrative role in the Division may change in the next few months and students should check the MU-CEL web site for the contact details for administrative inquiries.
MU-CEL’s Visiting Professor Programme
Prof. James Salzman – Prof. Jim Salzman of Washington College of Law, American University in Washington DC visited Macquarie University as recipient of a Senior
Fulbright Scholarship during the period June 2002 - June 2003.
He spent the first six months of his visit with the Commonwealth's Key Centre on Biodiversity and Bioresources (located within Macquarie's Department of Biological Sciences). Jim then relocated to MU-CEL for the duration of his visit.
Professor Salzman, Professor Andy Beattie, (Director of the Key Centre) and Professor Jeffery were successful in their joint application for a MURG grant to assist in supporting their research collaboration with Professor Salzman.
Prof. Salzman is a co-author of International Environmental Law and Policy, a leading text in this area used widely in the U.S. and other law schools around the world. A graduate of Yale and Harvard Law School, Jim brings with him a distinguished background in many aspects of environmental law and policy including the use of market-based instruments and environmental services. One of MU-CEL's volunteer students, Evana Ushakoff, is continuing to assist Professor Salzman in his work on biodiversity and ecoservices.
Prof. Robert Hershey – Prof. Robert Hershey was scheduled to visit MU-CEL in April 2003 and assist with the delivery of the new postgraduate unit, Law, Globalization and Cultural Transformations. Professor Hershey is an Adjunct Professor of Law and Federal Indian Law at the University of Arizona’s (U of A) College of Law in Tucson, Arizona. Robert is also Director of U of A’s Clinical Education, Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy Programme, (2002); Supervising Attorney, Tribal Law Clinic (1991 – 1992); Special Litigation Counsel to the White Mountain Apache Tribe(1983 – 1999) and from 1995 – 1997 he was Special Counsel to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe.
Unfortunately, the very day Professor Hershey was scheduled to fly to Sydney war broke out in Iraq and his trip had to be postponed. Professor Jeffery, rather than cancelling the unit, stepped in and taught the course. Professor Hershey plans to visit Macquarie at some date in the near future.
The Honourable Paul Stein AM - Justice Stein will take up his position as Visiting Professor of the Division of Law on 15 September 2003. He will be on campus for approximately two months and reinforce a close working relationship with MU-CEL in the context of the IUCN, the new Journal of International and Comparative Environmental Law and his ongoing support of MU-CEL as a member of its external Advisory Board.
Professor Malcolm Cooper of Ritsimeikan Asia Pacific University will be visiting MU-CEL on 27/28 August 2003 for discussions on the implementation of collaborative research initiatives pursuant to the Memorandum of Understanding between our respective institutions.
Intellectual Property & Biological Resources Law and Policy Conference, Singapore - December 1-3 2003
This conference is being co-organised by the Singapore Academy of Law, the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS), the Intellectual Property Academy (IPA), the Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (APCEL) in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Office (WIPO) and in partnership with IUCN-CEL and its Academy of Environmental Law, The Japan Biodiversity Association (JBA), the Macquarie University Centre for Environmental Law (MU-CEL) and the United Nations University, Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU/IAS).
Prof. Michael Jeffery and A/Prof Donna Craig will join Professors, Peter Drahos (Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University), Hiroji Isozaki (Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Iwate University), Bartha Maria Knoppers, (Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine, University of Montreal), A.H. Zakri (Director, Institute of Advanced Studies, United Nations University) and Dr. Steven R. King, (Vice-President, Ethnobotony and Conservation, PS Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) in presenting papers at this major international event.
The Conference Roundtable will be chaired by Professor Tommy Koh, Ambassador-at-Large, Singapore and Director, Institute of Policy Studies.
Michael's recent article entitled Bioprospecting: Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing under the Convention on Biodiversity and the Bonn Guidelines, published in a Special Edition of the Singapore Journal of International & Comparative Law together with his papers prepared for the International Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Symposium held in Tokyo, Japan in November, 2002, the World Jurists Association Conference in Adelaide this month and the Intellectual Property and Biological Resources Conference scheduled for Singapore in December 2003 reflect his extensive research work in the IPR and biodiversity areas.