This book provides a critical assessment of the New South Wales Land and Environmental Court (NSWLEC). Effective adjudication has become a key consideration for environmental lawyers. One of the most important questions is whether environmental law frameworks need their own courts, with the conclusion being: yes they do. Here, a pioneer of such a court, the NSWLEC is forensically examined to see what it might teach other such courts. Showing a court ‘in action’ it suggests models that practitioners and policy makers might follow. It also speaks to the environmental law scholars, setting out a conceptual framework for studying such courts as legal institutions. This multi-faceted collection is invaluable to scholars and practitioners alike.
1. The Many Facets of a Cutting-Edge Court: A Study of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales The Hon Justice Brian J Preston (Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, Australia) PART I FUNCTION 2. From Reactive to Proactive Decision-Making by the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales Douglas Fisher (Queensland University of Technology, Australia) 3. The Place of the Land and Environment Court in the Planning System of New South Wales Leslie Stein (University of Sydney, Australia) 4. The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales and the Transnationalisation of Climate Law: The Case of Gloucester Resources v Minister for Planning Jacqueline Peel (University of Melbourne, Australia) 5. Transnational Dimensions of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales Ben Boer (University of Sydney, Australia) 6. The International Outreach of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales: Diffusion in India Gitanjali Nain Gill (Northumbria University, UK) PART II DOCTRINE 7. Biodiversity and the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales Paul Adam (University of New South Wales, Australia) 8. Environmental Principles and the Construction of a New Body of Legal Reasoning Eloise Scotford (University College London, UK) 9. The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales and the Recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ Environmental Rights Megan Davis (Indigenous Law Centre, and UNSW, Australia) 10. The Administrative Law Expertise of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales Elizabeth Fisher (University of Oxford, UK) 11. Ecocentrism and Criminal Proceedings for Offences against Environmental Laws Rob White (University of Tasmania) PART III PROCESS 12. You Can Only Keep Something by Giving it Away Tim Bonyhady (Australian National University) 13. ‘Please Come In’: Access to Justice and the Development of Jurisprudence in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales Jeff Smith (Australian centre for Climate and Environmental Law and Sue Higginson (an environmental lawyer in Australia) 14. Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales Mary Walker OAM (International Bar Association Mediation Committee) 15. The Land and Environment Court of New South Wales: Normative Legitimacy and Adjudicative Integrity Ceri Warnock (University of Otago, New Zealand) CONCLUSION 16. Afterword: Law in Unexpected Places Elizabeth Fisher (University of Oxford, UK)
Elizabeth Fisher is Professor of Environmental Law at the University of Oxford, UK. Brian Preston is Chief Judge at the Land and Environmental Court of New South Wales, Australia.
