LAWS20009 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Soft Law, Environmental Protection, Anthropocentrism
LECTURE 1: INTRODUCTION
OVERVIEW OF LAW
What is Law?
• Laws are systems of rules, which create powers, rights, liabilities, duties and/or
responsibilities – for a particular place or scale
• Rules that communities are expected to comply with
• Laws are usually able to be enforced through some means, but they don’t have to be
enforceable (e.g. international law)
• Not all laws are written down – can include laws derived from custom or morality (e.g. indigenous law + practice)
o Law in its broader sense: creates rights, demands satisfaction of duties – look at function, rather than words
• Law changes to reflect changing social norms & values – collectively comprise the public interest
Types of Law
• 3 below, exist across various scales – global, national, state, local
• Public Law: regulate the conduct of government
• Private Law: regulate conduct between individuals/corporations
• Criminal Law: specific the boundaries of acceptable social conduct, beaches of which warrant sanctions imposed by the
community
Sources of Law
• Australian Domestic Law:
o Constitutions (of States and the Commonwealth of Australia)
o Acts of Parliament (statutes/legislation) and local laws
o Decisions of superior courts (Common law)
o Commonwealth has the power to make laws on subject matter of International
treaties – hence, can legislate on the environment (international environment
concern – e.g. climate change, world heritage)
• International Law:
o Laws that regulate relations between countries, and sometimes between
countries and people/corporations
o Soft law – hard to enforce, some countries don’t ratify (America – ICJ & ICC)
o Sources: treaties (written agreements between countries) + customary international law (rules based on the
practice of states, which they believe they are bound to follow) – ICJ & ICC
Areas of Law & their purpose
Area of Law
Purpose
Administrative
Law
Regulate government conduct
Property Law
Encourage land use, development, and exchange
Contract Law
Facilitate commerce & trade
Tort Law
Protect personal rights from wrongful interference
Criminal Law
Uphold standards & values of society
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW
• Environmental law often considered an ‘umbrella’ term for a collection of legal provisions which relate to environmental
protection/minimising human impact on the environment
o Legal provisions from other areas of law: administrative, property, contract, tort & criminal
• Even though it isn’t a field of itself, can identify a suite of purely environmental laws from the 1970’s onwards
• Purpose: establishes standards, protecting & conserving, facilitate human interaction with environment – doesn’t always
protect, also endorses exploitation of the environment
• Environmental protection is an indirect /consequential effect of the law – serves human purposes
• Are environmental laws defined by their impact or by their purpose?
o Laws that impact upon matters of environmental significance or laws that improve/protect the environment?
o Do they strike a balance between use of the environment and co-existence with the environment?
• Can they be defined by rights + responsibilities over the environment?
o Easy way to see balance between use and exploitation within the environment
Rights: things the law will
protect
Responsibilities: things the
law will impose or demand
Australia is a federal legal
system. States/territories
make laws for themselves.
Handed over some powers
to the Commonwealth
Government –
environment remains a
state responsibility.
Document Summary
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