IMEL Bids Farewell to the Environmental Law for Non-Law Students

Every year IMEL convenes a course titled Environmental Law for Non-Lawyers, on offer to postgraduate students registered in other Faculties at UCT. The course is convened by Sandy Paterson. Students enrolling in the course typically come from the Faculties of Science, Engineering and the Built Environment, and Humanities. These students are introduced to the basics of environmental law and then let loose to apply their legal knowledge to practical scenario, a fictitious large-scale residential development taking place on the West Coast of South Africa. This scenario is designed to trigger the application of framework environmental laws and sectoral laws governing land use planning, natural resource management, and pollution control and waste management. It enables the students to apply the law and build their integrated, practical and problem solving skills. The assignment tests students to the limit – and they are accordingly “rewarded” at the end with a celebratory sundowner!