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ANDRZEJ FRYCZ MODRZEWSKI KRAKOW UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ENGLISH LAW
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
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Choose one question;
Prepare an assignment of 1,500 to 2,000 words;
Attribute, with footnote references, all sources used [not included in the
word count]; Append a bibliography of all sources.
Please hand your assignments in by (or before) Monday 20 May 2012
Question 1
Critically assess the extent to which English environmental law has matured as a
coherent legal discipline, defining its sources and principles.
Question 2
Critically appraise the judgment of the House of Lords in Cambridge Water Co.
Ltd v Eastern Counties Leather plc [1994] 1 All ER 53, in relation to the Rule in
Rylands and Fletcher, and assess the limitations of applying the common law of
Torts to the protection of the environment.
Question 3
Critically assess the degree of protection afforded by the European Convention
on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 and the Human Rights Act
1998, to individuals challenging the decisions of public authorities which have
resulted in harm to health and/or the environment, paying particular regard to
the House of Lords case of Marcic v Thames Water Utilities plc [2004] EnvLR.
Question 4
Critically discuss the Environment Agency’s enforcement policy, its
administrative sanctions and its approach to environmental enforcement in
England.
Question 5
‘The environment knows no boundaries.’
Critically discuss the relevance of this statement both in terms of global
environmental problems and their legal solutions, addressing the relationship of
international and European Union law with English environmental law.
Question 6
Critically assess the extent to which the House of Lords (now the Supreme
Court) has adopted a purposive approach in its interpretation of ‘causation’ in
water pollution cases and in its definition of ‘knowingly permitting’ deposits of
waste.
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