For the legal profession: the Framework Model Curriculum on Continuing Legal Education in Environmental Law

On the occasion of World Environment Day 2020, the International Bar Association (IBA) reminds lawyers of the Framework Model Curriculum on Continuing Legal Education in Environmental Law (the ‘Model Curriculum’) that equips them with the vital knowledge and skills required to provide effective litigation and advisory services in environmental law matters.

Published in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Model Curriculum addresses the challenges posed by increasing environmental demands being placed on the legal profession. The Model Curriculum is a direct response to requests from UNEP Member States for guidance on effective legislative and enforcement methods needed to advance justice, governance and the law regarding environmental sustainability.

IBA President Horacio Bernardes Neto states in the publication’s foreword: We hope that this curriculum will contribute to meeting the training needs of legal practitioners. We look forward to working closely with national and regional bar associations, as well as providers of continuing legal education, to build the capacities of lawyers to develop and apply environmental law.’

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The Model Curriculum is made up of six modules that can be delivered as a single programme or stand-alone units, including inter alia:

• an overview of environmental and sustainability law, with particular attention given to the relationship between environmental law and the UN Sustainable Development Goals;
• analysis and explanations of laws, regulations and agreements dealing with the protection and exploitation of
• alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, public interest litigation, judicial review and constitutional questions in environmental matters;
• environmental enforcement from prosecution and defence perspectives, including criminal ones;
• the importance of social licences to operate, the protection of traditional knowledge of indigenous communities, environmental impact assessments requests, corporate social responsibility, green supply chains; and
• technical training on the key aspects of physics, chemistry, biology and geology relevant to environmental law practitioners.

The Model Curriculum will be used as a template that national bar associations can use and develop to execute environmental educational programmes, adapted to their national and local circumstances.

IBA Bar Issues Commission Chair, Péter Köves, leader of the working group established to develop the Model Curriculum, commented: ‘The climate crisis, the environment and sustainable development have all risen to the top of global agendas in recent years. As a result, the field of environmental law has expanded rapidly. It is generally recognised that lawyers and legal systems will play a vital role in the years to come due to realisation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development. It is crucial, therefore, that the development of lawyers’ knowledge and skills in environmental law is advanced in a structured way. In the UN Environment Programme, we have the perfect partner to achieve this important objective.’

The Framework Model Curriculum on Continuing Legal Education in Environmental Law received IBA Council endorsement in September 2019 at the IBA Annual Conference held in Seoul. The working group comprised members of the IBA Academic and Professional Development Committee, the IBA Environment, Health and Safety Law Committee, and representatives of the UNEP.

The Model Curriculum is free to download from the IBA website at tinyurl.com/tvqwhsr.

ENDS

Notes to the Editor

1. Click here to view related items on climate change from the IBA. www.ibanet.org/Climate-Crisis/Home
2. The International Bar Association (IBA), the global voice of the legal profession, is the foremost organisation for international legal practitioners, bar associations and law societies. Established in 1947, shortly after the creation of the United Nations, it was born out of the conviction that an organisation made up of the world's bar associations could contribute to global stability and peace through the administration of justice.
   
   In the ensuing 70 years since its creation, the organisation has evolved from an association comprised exclusively of bar associations and law societies to one that incorporates individual international lawyers and entire law firms. The present membership is comprised of more than 80,000 individual international lawyers from most of the world’s leading law firms and some 190 bar associations and law societies spanning more than 170 countries.
   
   The IBA has considerable expertise in providing assistance to the global legal community, and through its global membership, it influences the development of international law reform and helps to shape the future of the legal profession throughout the world.

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