A new Environmental Law Seminar Series, organised and hosted by postgraduate taught students at Kent Law School, began this month with a presentation on policing environmental protection.
The series has been designed specifically for students with an interest in the environmental law modules offered within the School’s one-year Master’s in Law programme, the Kent LLM.
The first seminar, ‘Policing environmental protection and the European Union (EU): a case of supranational bite as well as bark?’ was led by Law School Senior Lecturer Martin Hedemann-Robinson. Martin, a former legal administrator within the Environment Directorate-General of the European Commission, provided an in-depth overview and critical reflection on the implementation and enforcement of environmental policies and legislation within the EU.
Kent LLM student Jack Callaghan, who organised the seminar in collaboration with fellow students Inez Abeynayake and Claire Walls, said: ‘During his presentation, Martin argued that while it was without doubt that the approach to environmental issues was more comprehensive than ever, the positive views of the state of environmental legislation within the Union as expressed by the current Presidency, do not accurately reflect the challenges facing the region.’
Martin has recently completed the second edition of his book Enforcement of European Union Environmental Law: Legal Issues and Challenges. The book, due to be published by Routledge later this year, examines the subject of EU environmental law enforcement. It provides a detailed account of the various legal arrangements at EU level that may be used for the purpose of upholding EU environmental norms and assesses the practical impact of those arrangements.
The next seminar in the Environmental Law series, entitled ‘Thinking Globally and Acting Locally: Environmental Issues for Canterbury’ will be held on Monday 2 November at 6pm in the Law School’s Postgraduate Teaching Room. Visiting speakers Emily Shirley and Geoff Meaden will discuss local environmental concerns and their legal implications. A further seminar, with guest speaker Liz Hiester and entitled ‘Environmental Law and Legal Practice’, will be held at 6pm on Monday 16 November in the same venue.
Kent LLM Students can graduate with a specialism in either Environmental Law or International Environmental Law by (i) opting to study at least three (out of six) modules from those associated with the specialism of their choice and by (ii) focusing the topic of their dissertation on their chosen specialism.
More information about environmental law research, events and academics at Kent can be found on the Environmental Law mini-site. More information about studying the Kent LLM (and choosing your specialism) can be found on our postgraduate pages.