Environmental Law
Overview
What is Environmental Law?
The field of environmental law is one of the most wide-ranging and demanding areas of study and legal practice. Environmental protection involves actions ranging from the level of individual species in vulnerable local habitats to matters affecting social organization and energy use at a global scale. To appreciate specialized studies in environment, natural resources, land-use planning, or biotechnology, among other courses at the University of Ottawa Law Faculty, students require a fundamental grounding in such fields as constitutional law, international law, administrative law, and business organizations.
Why Study Environmental Law?
There are many reasons to include courses in environmental law in your legal education. Environmental issues have always been of concern from the perspective of public interest law and in recent years arise increasingly in relation to other areas of practice including corporate and administrative law, municipal and planning law, and real estate transactions. It is impossible, as Canada and other nations address climate change, global warming and the Kyoto Protocol to read or listen to daily news without encountering significant environmental law issues. Whether you hope to devote a career to some of these matters, expect to encounter them from time to time, or simply wish to pursue a personal interest, environmental law courses are essential.
Why Study Environmental Law in Ottawa?
The Faculty of Law at the University of Ottawa has a significant group of environmental law professors teaching in English and in French, in both Common Law and Civil Law. A wide variety of core and complimentary courses are offered. Members of the environmental law group have experience as public interest litigators, as policy advisors, in-house counsel, and as academic advisors and researchers both domestically within Ontario and Canada, as well as internationally.
The law school now offers an environmental law clinic, in partnership with Sierra Legal Defence Fund, where students can work on environmental cases and issues for credit. Also, the January Term program has enriched environmental law course offerings by involving expert practitioners, and opportunities to expand along these lines are available in connection with the IUCN Academy of Environmental Law whose Secretariat is located at the University of Ottawa.
The national capital area provides access to federal environmental officials and international visitors, many of whom have participated in classes or public lectures at the law school, whether these are arranged by the faculty or the Environmental Law Students Association.
What Can I Do with a Study of Environmental Law?
Careers in environmental law take a variety of forms and are highly sought after by those interested in the area. Opportunities exist in private practice, with public interest groups, with government legal offices at the federal, provincial, municipal and international levels. In-house counsel with energy and resource firms regularly deal with the environmental law dimensions of current or proposed developments.
Law School at the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law, Common Law Section - your path to a career in Environmental Law starts here!