The Post Graduate Diploma in Environmental Laws offered since the year 2000-2001 is a one-year distance education programme open to all graduates. The goal of this course is to acquaint the candidates with different aspects of environmental law and governance. The Course is designed to strengthen the legal capacity of Administrators, Activists, Adjudicators, and Academics concerned with Environmental Governance in India. In order to familiarize the students with the environmental justice machinery; the concepts of criminal law remedies, tortious liabilities and major landmark environmental movements have also been included in the curriculum. From principles to the existing framework; this Course covers in its broader avenue; the legislative and judicial aspects of Water, Air and Waste Management in India. As a whole, this course aims to provide a theoretical as well as a pragmatic insight to the Environmental Law and to familiarize the student with the ecological, socio-economic, scientific and administrative sensitivity about Environment, within the purview of law and administration of justice.
Course Outline
- Paper I - Introduction to Law & Legal Systems
- Paper II - Philosophy, Principles, Environmental Justice and Pollution Control
- Paper III - International Environmental Law
- Paper IV - Natural Resource Management Law & Environment and Development
- Understanding Law and Legal System in General -Introduction to Law: Different ‘theories’ about law - Pure Theory of Law - Natural Law Theory - Traditional Natural Law Theory -Second Kind of Natural Law -Introduction to legal system.
- Legal System - Understanding Legal System, Various organs of legal system -Law making organ -Institutions entrusted with execution of law; Institutions connected with adjudication & rule governing adjudication - Law Enforcement in India -Central Armed Police Forces -Central Investigation and Intelligence Institutions - Central Forensic Institutions.
- How to find Appropriate Law? Sources of Law; Legislation, Delegated Legislation, Ordinances, Judicial Decisions and Precedent, Constitutional Law, Custom as Source of Law, Contracts as Law, Equity – Standards of Justice and Good Conscience, Classification of Law – Civil and Criminal Law – Substantive and Procedural Laws – Public and Private Laws.
- The Indian Legal System What is a ‘Constitution’? ; Evolution in the Models of Constitution, Constitution and Constitutional Law, Constitution as the supreme law of the Land, Evolution of the Constitution ; The Nature of the Indian Constitution ; Salient Features of the Indian Constitution ; Longest written constitution – Federal Structure – Parliamentary form of Government – Unique blend of rigidity and flexibility – Democratic Republic – Fundamental Rights – Directive Principles of State Policy – Fundamental Duties – Secular State – An Independent Judiciary – Adult Suffrage; Basic structure of the Constitution, Citizenship; Fundamental Rights; Right to Equity- Right to Freedom – Rights against Exploitation – Right to Freedom of Religion – Cultural and Educational Rights – Right to Constitutional Remedies – Mandamus – Quo Warranto – Certiorari – Prohibition – Habeas Corpus ; Directive Principles of state Policy; Directive Principles v Fundamental Rights; Structure of Government ; Powers of the president ; Executive Powers, Military Powers, Diplomatic Powers, Financial Powers, Legislative Powers, Ordinance Making Power, Pardoning Power, Emergency Powers, Courts of Law, Jurisdiction and Re-organization of Courts; Tribunals under the Constitution.
- Few Representative Laws Law of Torts; Essentials of a tort, Act or Omission, Legal Damage; Mental Element in Tortious Liability; principles of Liability, Fault Based Liability, Vicarious Liability, Negligence, Strict liability, Absolute liability; General Defences to Tortious Claims Hand Book on Distance Education Programmes
- Law of Contract Principles of Contract; Few essential terminologies; Agreements and Contracts: Difference and Relationship; Essential Elements for the Construction of the Contract; Offer – Acceptance – Consideration; Law Relating to Performance of a Contract.
- Criminal Law Crime and Criminal Law; Criminology, Criminal Policy, Criminal Law; Principles of Criminal Liability, Mala in se and Mala Prohibita, Actus Reus, Intention, Motive, Knowledge, Foresight of the consequences.
- Law Of Property Nature of Property; Possession of land, Classification of property; Interests – Easements; Modes of holding ownership; Intellectual Property Rights; Patents, Copyrights, Industrial Designs, Trademark
- Miscellaneous What is International Law? ; Nature of International Law ; What are the sources of International Law; Custom, Treaties, General Principles of Law Recognised by the Civilized Nations, Judicial Decisions, Juristic Works, Equity, Resolution of the General Assembly; Few important International Organization; Public Interest Litigation; Judicial Activism; Alternate Dispute Resolution Mechanism; Adjudication; Civil Adjudication, Criminal Adjudication, Constitutional Adjudication.
- Environmental Policies, Philosophies and movements: Introduction, Eco-Centric and Anthropocentric Approaches, Deep Ecology, Forest Policy, Water Policy, National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC), 2008, Environmental Policy, Strategy for Pollution Control, Environment Movements In India, Environmental Movements in other Countries
- Right To Environment - A Basic Human Right: A Constitutional Law Perspective, Comparative Constitutional Perspective, Indian Constitutional Perspective, Right to Clean and Healthy Environment: Article 21 Perspective, Judicial Exposition on the Right To Environment.
- Environment Principles of Governance – Introduction, Sustainable Development, Precautionary Principle, Polluter Pays Principle, Yamuna Conservation Zone, National Mission for Clean Ganga, Principle of Preventive Action, Good Neighbourliness and National and International Co-operation, Public Trust Doctrine (PTD), Common but Differentiated Responsibility, Recent Conventions on Environment, Recent Cases Decided By National Green Tribunal.
- Traditional, Common and Criminal Law Remedies for Environmental Protection – Introduction, What is Common Law?Law of Nuisance: Tort Law, Law relating to Trespass, Negligence, Chapter XIV of Indian Penal Code, The Code of Criminal Procedure, Remedies under Common Law:Strict Liability to Absolute Liability, Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991, Recent Cases on Environment Law (NGT).
- Environmental Justice: Role & Policy - Concept of Environmental Justice, Definition of Environmental Justice, Principles of Environmental Justice, Development of Environmental Justice in India, Rule of Locus Standi, Public Interest Litigation, Environmental Policy Framework in India, PILas means of securing Environmental Justice, Environmental Litigation and Conflicting Class Interests, Public Liability Insurance, Environment Tribunals, National Green Tribunal, Few important NGT decisions.
- Water Pollution and Control Laws – Introduction, Types of Water Pollution, Water (Prevention And Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, few important terms defined under the Act, Functions of the authorities under the Act, Prohibitory Rules under the Act, National Water Policy, Need for Ground Water Management, Right of Ground Water, Factors responsible for depletion of Ground Water, Liability for usage of Ground Water, Impact of Aquaculture on Ground Water, Policies for management of Ground Water, Rain Water Harvesting.
- Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 - Air Pollution, Few of the definitions under the Act, Authorities under the Act and their powers and functions, Noise Pollution (Regulation And Control) Rules, 2000, Policy Statement for Abatement pf Pollution, 1992, Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and Air Pollution.
- Law Relating to Waste Management – Introduction, Definition of Hazardous Waste, The Hazardous Wastes (Management Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2008, Basel Convention on Hazardous Waste, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Bio-Medical Wastes (Management And Handling) Rules, 2011, Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules, 2000, Manufacture, Storage and Import of Hazardous Chemical Rules, 1989, Batteries (Management And Handling) Rules, 2001, The Chemical Accidents (Emergency Planning, Preparedness and Response Rules, 1996, E-waste (Management And Handling) Rules, 2010, Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016.
- Customary International Law and Environmental Summits -Evolution of International Environmental Law, Sources and Basis of International Environment Law, Global Environmental Organizations, Environmental Summits- Stockholm to Rio +20.
- Common Heritage: Oceans and Seas – Introduction, United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, Marine Pollution from Ships (MARPOL) Convention, The London Convention, 1972, Other Recent Developments.
- Biodiversity and Species Conservation –Introduction, Convention on Biological Diversity, 1992 (CBD), CITES, Convention on Wetlands of International importance, especially as waterfowl habitat.
- Eco System and Conservation – Introduction, RAMSAR Convention on Wet Lands, World Heritage Convention, 1972, Desertification Convention 1994.
- Common Concerns: Ozone and Climate Change - Introduction, Protection of Ozone Layer, Climate Change, Kyoto Protocol, 1997.
- Trade and Waste Management Regime – Introduction, GATT and the Environment, Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, The Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards (SPS), WTO and the Environment, Dispute Resolution Mechanism and Environmental Concerns, Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and the Environment, Waste-management, The Rotterdam Convention, Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, Minamata Convention on Mercury, Developments in Waste Management Handling in the United Nations Conferences/agendas and UNEP Sessions.
- International Principles for Conservation and Protection of Environment - Good Neighbourhood Principle, Sustainable Development, Sovereignty over Natural Resources, Precautionary Principle, Polluter Pays Principle, Inter and Intra Generational Equity, The Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities.
- International Legal Developments on Sharing Natural Resources, Environmental Ability Regime and Environmental Conflict Resolution - Water Management, Water Sharing Treaty, Agreements, and ICJ Decisions Riparian Rights and Protection of Water Resources, European Water Framework Law and Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM), The Hague 2000: Second World Water Forum & Ministerial Conference, Bonn 2001: International Conference on Freshwater, Johannesburg 2002: The World Summit On Sustainable Development (WSSD), European Union Water Framework Directive: An Overview, Permanent Court Of Arbitration: An Overview, Copenhagen Initiative 2007: International Conference On Managing Water Resources Towards 2015.
- Common Property Resources and the Law (Including Water Sheds) - Introduction, Common Concerns, Common Property Resources (CPRs): Meaning and Definition, Wet-Lands, Case Laws.
- Environmental Safeguards Relating to Development – Introduction, Environment Impact Assessment, Coastal Regulation Zone, Clean Development Mechanism, Regulations and Control of Ozone Depleting Substances, Corporate Environmental Responsibility and ISO, Eco-Mark Schemes of India, Equatorial Principles.
- Forest Management & Conservation: Law & Policy - Forest Policies in India, Forest Conservation & Protection: A Legislative Approach, Protection of Forests: The Judiciary’s Approach.
- Law Relating to Wildlife: Strategy & Protection- Introduction, Legislative Mechanisms for Wildlife Protection, Tiger Project, Project Elephant.
- Law Relating to Biodiversity and its Interface with Intellectual Property Rights - Biodiversity, Bio–Safety, Convention on Biological Diversity,
Biodiversity: An Indian Legislative Perspective, Interface with Intellectual Property Law, Patents Amendment Laws. - Land Conservation and Management- Land Degradation, Degradation of Land through Waste-Dumping, Land Use Planning [Green Belt Area, Parks And Playgrounds-Urban and Rural Land Use], Social Forestry and Land Regeneration, Rainwater Harvesting.
- Law Relating To Forest Management in India - Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, Community Rights, Sustainable Resource issues with respect to the Act, Balancing competing interest of Forest Dwellers and Forest Conservation, Concept of Sustainable Forest Management.
- Environmental Decision Making Process in India - Environmental Clearance, Environmental Impact Assessment, Environment Impact Statement, Public Hearing, Right to Environmental Information.