The course will be taught jointly by a visiting ANU academic and an academic from the University of Alabama Law School. (While the specific subject area of the course will vary from year to year, depending on the particular field of interest of the ANU/UA visitors, it will involve a comparative study of Australian and US approaches to the particular subject matter. Assessment details, teaching methods and type of course materials will vary from year to year depending on the subject matter and personnel involved in each offering of the course, but will be specified prior to student enrolment in the course).

At the conclusion of this course, students should be able to:

• identify similarities and differences between environmental law in Australia and the US;
• show familiarity with fundamental terminology, rationale, theories and approaches of Australian and United States environmental law;
• demonstrate an understanding of the core components of environmental law and climate law and the legal tools used to advance environmental protection while facilitating infrastructure development and resource use in both nations;
• explain the interaction between different policy and legal instgrucments and between various jurisdictions within Australian and United States environmental and planning law;
• explain the interaction between different policy and legal instruments within Australian and United States domestic climate law; and
• demonstrate an ability to apply the principles of environmental law and the emerging principles of climate law from relevant cases and statutes in Australia and the US to a given set of hypothetical facts, and to present an argument.

This course will require participation in seminar activities at the University of Alabama throughout the intensive teaching period.  The course will be primarily assessed by a 5,000-6,000 word comparative research essay due after the end of the course.  Further details of the final assessment will be provided on the course home page by the first week of the course.

Completed or completing five LAWS courses at 1000 level.
This course is capped at 20.

Please note that this course is a repeat of LAWS2248 taught in January-February of the same year at the University of Alabama and cannot be taken by students who have completed that course.

To be advised. It is likely that extensive materials will be available on the course web page.

To derive maximum benefit from the course, it is suggested that students undertake it in the latter part of their studies, when they have achieved a reasonable degree of familiarity with law in general and with the particular subject area of the course in any given year.