Postgraduate Course: Issues in Law and Sustainable Development (LAWS11519)
Course Outline
| School | School of Law |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | What, if anything, is sustainable development and what role does law play in its theories and practices?
Building on the introductory course on Law and Development, this course turns to the way economic theories and legal ideas emerge in "sustainable development", one of the key modern battlegrounds over the nature and direction of development practice. The course will explore law and sustainable development from a range of perspectives, such as environmental sustainability, security, and the rule of law. |
| Course description |
The course will cover:
- Development in practice, and its legal dimensions;
- Current controversies in development.
The course will provide a mix of theoretical and practical reading from a range of disciplines, including economics, political science, anthropology, and law. No background in economic theory or development studies is required.
The course will be delivered through a series of seminars where students will be given a list of readings or research tasks in advance. They will then discuss these in class. Course presentations may also be assigned.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: 25 |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
The course will be assessed by an Essay of 4000 words which counts for 75% of the final mark; a Role Play Exercise which counts for 15% and by class participation which counts for 10% of the final mark. |
| Feedback |
Feedback on the formative assessment may be provided in various formats, for example, to include written, oral, video, face-to-face, whole class, or individual. The course organiser will decide which format is most appropriate in relation to the nature of the assessment.
Feedback on both formative and summative in-course assessed work will be provided in time to be of use in subsequent assessments within the course.
Feedback on the summative assessment will be provided in written form via Learn, the University of Edinburgh's Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the way economic and social theory is translated into ideas about sustainability and development, and then into implementing policy and legal institutions, along with the range of political and social choices embedded in these processes
- Master complex areas of law and analyse complex arguments on the topic of the course
- Evidence an understanding of contemporary debates involving the subject-matter of the course
- Clearly formulate opinions on complex materials as well as clearly and convincingly articulate their point of view.
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Reading List
- Amsden AH, The Rise of 'The Rest': Challenges to the West from Late-Industrializing Economies (Oxford University Press 2003)
- Atapattu S, ¿From ¿Our Common Future¿ to Sustainable Development Goals: Evolution of Sustainable Development under International Law¿ (2020) 36(2) Wisconsin International Law Journal 215-246, available at https://wilj.law.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1270/2020/01/36.2_215-246_Atapattu.pdf
- Burdon P (ed), Exploring Wild Law: The Philosophy of Earth Jurisprudence (Wakefield Press 2012)
- Chang HJ, Kicking Away the Ladder: Development Strategy in Historical Perspective (Anthem 2002)
- Cordonier Segger MC, Gehring MW and Newcombe AP, Sustainable Development in World Investment Law (Kluwer 2011)
- Gudynas E, ¿Buen Vivir: Today¿s Tomorrow¿ (2011) 54(4) Development 441-447
- Mazzuccato M, The Entrepreneurial State (Demos 2011), available at https://demos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Entrepreneurial_State_-_web.pdf
- Our Common Future: Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/5987our-common-future.pdf
- Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (3-14 June 1992), A/CONF.151/26, https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/migration/generalassembly/docs/globalcompact/A_CONF.151_26_Vol.I_Declaration.pdf
- Schrijver NJ, The Evolution of Sustainable Development in International Law: Inception, Meaning and Status (Martinus Nijhoff 2008)
- Scoones I, ¿The Politics of Sustainability and Development¿ (2016) 41 Annual Review of Environment and Resources 293¿319, available at https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-environ-110615-090039
- Sen A, Development as Freedom (Reprint edition, Anchor 2000)
- Sustainable Development Law & Policy (journal)
- Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UNGA Resolution 70/1 of 21 October 2015, https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N15/291/89/PDF/N1529189.pdf |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
Skills and abilities in Personal and Intellectual Autonomy
- Demonstrate critical analytical skills; comprehension, including effective prioritization of points in argumentation; writing skills, in particular summarizing information; clear articulation of opinion as well as justification of that opinion.
Skills and abilities in Personal Effectiveness
- Critically reflect on the moral and political implications of development.
Technical/practical skills
- Show skill in making arguments about desirable legal arrangements in development contexts. |
| Keywords | Postgraduate,Level 11,Law,Development |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Lorenzo Cotula
Tel:
Email: v1lcotul@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Ms Susanna Wickes
Tel:
Email: Susanna.Wickes@ed.ac.uk |
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