MA Environmental Law and Sustainable Development

Why you?

This programme is ideal for graduates or professionals with no law background but an interest in the theory and practice of environmental law and related fields, particularly as they relate to the global South

After you graduate, you will join alumni from the MA at SOAS, many of whom are now working in environmental NGOs and consultancies, in government, in policy work at the national or international level (UN or other) or in academia.

To facilitate the study of law, all MA students are required to attend a two-week Preliminary Law, Legal Reasoning and Legal Methods in September before beginning the MA programme. Students must take modules to a total value of 180 credits, consisting of a dissertation (60 credits) and 120 credits of taught modules. Taught modules are worth either 15 or 30 credits.

Students who wish to graduate with a specialised MA are required to take at least 60 credits associated with their specialised MA, and the dissertation topic will be undertaken within the MA specialisation.

Please note that not all modules listed will be available every year.

Compulsory

• Law, Environment and Social Justice

Guided options List B

• Gender and the Law of War
• Human Rights of Women
• Law, Religion, and the State in South Asia
• Human Rights and Islamic Law
• International Commercial Arbitration
• Law and Development in Africa
• International laws on the use of force
• Foundations of International Law
• The Law of Armed Conflict
• Colonialism, Empire and International Law
• Comparative Constitutional Law
• Law and Society in Southeast Asia
• Law and Postcolonial Theory
• International Criminal Law
• Gender, Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa
• Gender, Sexuality and Law: Selected Topics
• Gender, Sexuality and Law: Theories and Methodologies
• International Investment Law
• Law, Rights & Social Change
• International Migration Law
• International Refugee Law
• The Prohibition of Torture in International Law
• Multinational Enterprises and the Law I
• Multinational Enterprises and the Law II
• Business and Human Rights in the Global Economy
• Comparative Company Law
• Israel, Palestine, and International Law
• Palestine, Resistance, and the Law
• Alternative Dispute Resolution I
• International Protection of Human Rights
• Islamic Family Law
• Islamic Legal Theory
• Transnational Law, Finance and Technology
• Colonial Geographies of International Law
• Law and Society in The Middle East and North Africa

Guided options List A

• Law and Natural Resources
• Water Justice: Rights, Access and Movements
• Law, Environment, and the Global Commons: Ice, Sea, Space and Beyond
• International Environmental Law
• Law and the Biodiversity Crisis
• Water and Development: Commodification, Ecology and Globalisation
• Law and the Climate Crisis

Teaching & Learning

All Masters programmes consist of 180 credits, made up of taught modules of 30 or 15 credits, taught over 10 or 20 weeks, and a dissertation of 60 credits. The programme structure shows which modules are compulsory and which are optional.

• We are ranked in the UK top 20 (QS World University Rankings 2023)
• SOAS is ranked 6th in the UK for employability (QS World University Rankings 2023)

Knowledge and Understanding

Students will acquire specialist knowledge of environmental law from an international and comparative perspective.

This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, knowledge and understanding of the following:

• The theoretical and practical underpinnings of environmental law internationally.
• The context in which law is made, interpreted, adjudicated, and amended.
• The role played by law, particularly environmental law in different situations internationally, particularly its role in promoting sustainable development in the global South.
• The role and function of legal institutions in managing the environment and natural resources.
• The weight and significance of different sources and methodologies.

Students will develop knowledge of how to locate relevant materials and assess their relevance and/or importance.

Intellectual (Thinking) Skills

• Students should develop rigour in the analysis and assessment of legal arguments.
• Students should develop the ability to understand, summarise and critically assess differing perspectives on theoretical debates.
• Students should develop independence of thought and the confidence to challenge the accepted wisdom.
• Students should learn to identify issues and formulate questions for further research through independent work.
• Students will be encouraged to bring to bear their own previous experience and knowledge in addressing legal issues in an interdisciplinary manner.

Subject-Based Practical Skills

The programme will help students develop the ability to:

• Write clear research essays and dissertations.
• Research in a variety of specialized research libraries and institutes and online, and retrieve, sift and select information from a variety of sources.
• Present seminar papers and defend the arguments therein.
• Discuss ideas introduced during seminars.
• Develop essay and dissertation research questions.
• Read legal source materials rapidly and critically.
• Present legal arguments in moots and debates.

Transferable Skills

The programme will enable students to:

• Communicate effectively in writing.
• Structure and communicate ideas and arguments effectively both orally and in writing.
• Read and comprehend significant quantities of reading rapidly and effectively and develop critical faculties.
• Find and use a variety of written and digital materials, especially legal materials, in libraries and research institutes.
• Present (non-assessed) material orally.
• Develop teamwork skills.

SOAS Law graduates leave SOAS as civic-minded and critically engaged individuals who can effectively contribute to their communities and societies. With a thorough understanding of the legal dimensions underlying many of our global challenges today, our Law students are valued by employers due to their analytical skills, specialist knowledge, and global perspective.

Graduates of the LLM Environmental Law and Sustainable Development degree have gone on to take up a variety of exciting opportunities.

Recent graduates have been hired by:

• United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• Milieu
• ClientEarth
• Climate Law & Policy

As a rough guide, 1 credit equals approximately 10 hours of work. Most of this will be independent study, including reading and research, preparing coursework, revising for examinations and so on. It will also include class time, which may include lectures, seminars and other classes.

Some subjects, such as learning a language, have more class time than others. At SOAS, most postgraduate modules have a one-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar every week, but this does vary.