ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

In accordance with its disciplinary field (Comparative Public Law, IUS/21), the course will provide students with basic tools to understand how environmental issues are regulated in a multilevel constitutional order.
As students are mainly supposed not to hold a legal specialist background, basic notions on the principles of International and EU law will be given, together with notions on the sources of law.
Given the connotation of the course, the teaching approach will be a environmental constitutional law one. The contents will be directed toward identifying how the relationship between the individual, community and nature is regulated in the constitutional frame, having regards to specific issues and experiences.

Students will learn how to identify applicable legislative acts in the context of the international, transnational and EU legal systems and how to access to them.
They will understand how to contextualize the applicable legal provisions in concrete cases and how breaches of environmental law could be addressed and settled, where necessary, depending on the legal systems taken into consideration.

Basic knowledge of the main legal systems where environmental laws are in force.
Brief history of environmental law in the constitutional order.
Basic knowledge of the general principles of environmental law.
Basic knowledge of the sources of environmental law and their hierarchy, depending on the legal systems dealt with.
Basic knowledge of the regulation of environmental issues in some constitutional experiences.

No prerequisites. Students are assumed not to hold a legal background.

- Introduction to Law (mainly to Public and Constitutional Law)
- General Principles and brief history of Environmental Constitutional Law
- Sources of Environmental Law and their Hierarchy
- Basics of International Environmental Law - main international and multilateral agreements on environmental-related issues
- Environment in Comparative Constitutional Law
- The Environment in the Italian Constitution
- The Environment Chart in France
- The Environment in US Constitutional Law
- The Environment in South American Constitutions
- Natives People and Environment
- Environmental Protection in the EU
- Animal Law
- From Environmental Law to the Environmental rights

COMPULSORY

1) L. Collins, The Ecological Constitution. Reframing Environmental Law, Routledge, 2021.
2) Legislative acts and judgments from time to time indicated during the lessons and uploaded on Moodle.
3) Lecture slides and notes.

The examination will consist on a discussion on a paper on issued related to the cours contents. The paper must be submitted to teacher before the date of the exam (1 week before). Further informations on modes of examination will be provided during classes and on Moodle.
Alternative modalities might be proposed for students interested to present and discuss their papers before the class.

The examination will be rated on 30 points.
The evaluation of the paper will take into account (27 points):
- the clarity of the paper and the research question
- the accuracy and the proper use of references
- the ability to underline legal issues and offer constitutional perspectives on the topic adressed
The discussion will be assessed in the range of three points.

Frontal lectures and possible workshops.
Seminars with external invited lecturers and following group discussions.
Attendance is recommended.

English

oral