LLM Environmental Health Law
Factfile
| Typical Entry Requirements | Applicants should normally possess a first degree (First or Second class or equivalent) awarded by a UK university or recognised overseas institution. Exceptionally, equivalent professional experience may be accepted. Students whose first language is not English will be expected to have achieved a minimum of 6.5 IELTS. |
|---|---|
| Programme length | 24 months by part-time distance learning |
| Planned intake | 12 |
|---|---|
| Start date | September |
| Programme Director | |
| Fees | Fees for this programme can be found on our fee rates 2010/2011 page. |
| Professional recognition | Continuing professional development accreditation of 16 CPD points per year for each year of the programme |
| Download course brochure |
| Contact details |
For general enquiriesT: 0800 980 3200 or +44 (0)1483 681681 For admissions enquiries
T: 01483 686300 |
|---|---|
| Apply online now |
This is a part-time Master of Laws (LLM) in Environmental Health Law by distance learning with residential weekends, starting in September.
This programme is aimed at environmental health professionals seeking to enhance their qualifications, and will be particularly attractive to environmental health practitioners and lawyers specialising in environmental and public health law.
Teaching is provided by a blend of online distance learning and weekend residential sessions held in Guildford.
The programme aims to provide an academically rigorous, taught programme leading to a prestigious postgraduate qualification. It offers in-depth study of environmental health law, examined from a number of different perspectives.
The programme will provide students with a sound postgraduate education in key aspects of environmental and public health law with particular emphasis on the role of law. It covers legal and regulatory aspects of the main areas of environmental health law and the process of enforcement.
The objective is to enable students to analyse critically the key principles, policies, concepts and doctrines in this field of law while improving their understanding of the legal controls, regulation and enforcement techniques at the UK, European and international levels.
Programme Structure
The LLM comprises two compulsory modules, two optional modules from a range of four, and a dissertation of 15,000 words on a selected field of environmental health law. Students will also attend five compulsory residential weekends throughout the two years of the programme.
Compulsory Modules
The Framework for Environmental Health Law: Enforcement and the Regulatory Process
This module introduces key legal concepts which underpin environmental health law. It examines both national and international sources of law, the role of decision-making bodies and the impact of basic issues of governance relating to environmental health. The range of enforcement aspects explored will include the powers of environmental health officers, human rights law, the Local Government Ombudsman and prosecution processes in English courts.
Europe and World Trade: The Environmental Health Law Dimension
This module focuses on European and international legal issues informing the development of environmental health law today. The roles of the European Union and of the World Trade Organization are examined to provide an overview of the evolutionary nature of environmental health law and its relationship with international economic law, and an appreciation of the conflicting policy objectives at supranational and international level. Finally, the module will explore recent developments linked to the alleged impact climate change has on environmental health.
Optional Modules
Food Safety Law
This module examines the law regulating the production, marketing and supply of food. The development and operation of food law are explored in detail, along with the enforcement processes and alternative enforcement regimes. Aspects of food law of particular relevance to food safety will be examined in detail.
Law Relating to Housing Standards and Conditions
This module examines the development of housing policy and law, and the various approaches, both past and present, used to address problems of inadequate and unhealthy housing. Emphasis is placed on the range of legal instruments currently available to implement public policy in this area and whether the use of the appropriate legal procedures can resolve housing problems.
Occupational Health and Safety Law
This module examines the development and current context of health and safety law with a view to understanding the legal framework presently promoting health and safety in the workplace. The range of options available to law makers and their implications for enforcement in private and public law will be considered in detail, as will the increasing importance of European and international legal developments. This module has been designed to deliver the knowledge components of key competencies specified in the 2009 health and safety competence framework (RDNA Tool). Further details of the competencies developed via this module will be provided on application.
Statutory Nuisance and Local Pollution Controls
The objective of the module is to enable students to better understand the development of law which seeks to control pollution and other factors which affect the quality of life in local neighbourhoods. It will address the development of law in this field and how it has been and can be used to address problems of poor quality of life. This module focuses on the legal basis for the regulation of nuisances and other causes of pollution and the reasons for the development of statutory nuisance law in this area. It also covers other legal regimes and remedies for improving clean and safe neighbourhoods and takes into account the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005. It also examines the law regarding local atmospheric controls.
Programme Structure
Every module is one weekend long. Sessions begin on a Friday afternoon and run until Sunday lunchtime. Exact dates for all modules will be scheduled as soon as possible.
Assessment
The LLM is assessed entirely by coursework. Each taught module assessment consists of written coursework of a maximum of 5000 words, while the dissertation module requires the completion of a 15,000-word dissertation on an approved topic, with the guidance of a supervisor.
Dissertation
The dissertation allows students the maximum flexibility to tailor their studies to meet their particular requirements by engaging in an extended piece of supervised research. The research topic is agreed between the student and their supervisor, and should be in the field of environmental health law. The dissertation provides the opportunity to ensure that students research in an area which is or may be of direct relevance to their future careers, thereby enhancing their employability.
Residential Sessions
As part of the programme, students will be required to attend five residential weekends, which will take place at Barnett Hill near Guildford.
Barnett Hill is a beautiful Queen Anne-style mansion set in 26 acres of stunning landscaped gardens and woodlands, just outside Guildford in Surrey. The English country house character and convenient location between Gatwick and Heathrow has gained Barnett Hill a reputation as the premier venue for international meetings, training programmes, assessment and development centres.
Details will be posted to all students confirming the dates and arrangements closer to the time.
Technical Requirements
The LLM in Environmental Health Law is a blended learning programme. It comprises online delivery, supplemented with hard-copy texts and face-toface sessions during residential weekends. Online materials may be obtained from any computer with Internet access and a supported web browser.
The software package that is used to deliver the LLM programme’s online materials is called ULearn within the University and is otherwise known as Web CTVista (version 3). This software has certain technical requirements and students should check thoroughly, before signing up for the programme, that their computer is capable of running this software.
The University has provided a specific ULearn UserSupport set of web pages for this purpose. Visit http://portal.surrey.ac.uk/ulearn and select the ‘User Support For ULearn’ section.
Cutting-edge Research in Environmental Law
The Environmental Regulatory Research Group (ERRG) is based at the School of Law in the University of Surrey. The Group deals with four main areas and is actively involved in research, teaching and consultancy in all of these areas.
Climate Change
Researchers are investigating local and global climate change regulatory frameworks. Work is being undertaken on the legal implications of climate measures based on sustainable consumption models. Furthermore, work is being undertaken on the emerging linkages between climate and energy security, such as the links between energy security, rural development and sustainable tourism.
Environmental and Public Health
Members of the Group are working on the enforcement of food legislation on the implementation of EU regulations on food safety and hygiene in the UK. Furthermore, in relation to public health the regulation of the use of nanotechnologies for environmental and health protection is one of the key fields in which researchers of the Group are actively involved.
Natural Resources
Researchers within the Group are focusing on forestry and oil exploitation in developing countries, looking at the necessary legal paths that would open the way to sustainable forest management and to a sustainable use of the remaining oil resources.
Water Law and Policy
The Group is actively involved in a project exploring regulatory frameworks for independent water providers in developing countries. Members are also focusing on the law and policy of transboundary aquifers, with a special emphasis on the Guarani Aquifer in Latin America.
