The assessment for this subject is based around Australian climate and environmental court cases. 6-8 legal cases will be set as mandatory reading for all students. Each student will be assigned to one of these cases for the purpose of their oral and written assessment tasks. The relevant judgments will be uploaded on Canvas two weeks prior to the subject’s commencement. Some cases will have multiple judgments (for example an original decision and an appeal decision).

It is expected that students will attend class on the first day of the unit having read and familiarised themselves with each case, not just the one to which they have been assigned (although the assigned case might be the emphasis for pre-class preparation). Firstly, we will be using the case studies as examples throughout the unit, and discussing the judgments in class. Secondly, the oral assessment component of the unit, outlined below, will begin on the second day and will involve case-based presentations. Students should be prepared to participate not only in their own presentation session but also to respond to the case discussions in other sessions.

Oral Presentation (25%) Each student will be assessed on an in-class oral presentation relating to their assigned case. Students will present together with the other students who were assigned the same case, but will receive an individual grade. Each group will have 30 minutes to present to the class a critical summary of their case. 

Presentations will be interspersed across day 2, day 3, and day 4 of the unit. Time will be allocated to preparation on day 1, so that students can get together with the other members of their group to decide on a structure and format. Most of the individual preparation for the assessment should be conducted prior to the first day of class, by reading and taking notes on the case, and by brainstorming key issues and potential points to raise with the class. Information and marking criteria for the presentation will be discussed in class.

Case Note (75%) The written assessment is a 6,000 word written case note to be submitted via Canvas by 5pm on Tuesday 25 June 2024 (Sydney, Australia time). The case note should be written through the lens of one of the topics covered in class. Students may wish to discuss a proposed lens during one of the timeslots allocated to discussing the assessment in class, but this is not compulsory.  In preparing the written case note, students should aim to provide a novel commentary – that is, to include their own thoughts and analysis. Students are welcome and encouraged to refer to journal articles and other case notes, as well as to other cases including the other assigned cases, but they must be appropriately cited and acknowledged.

Resources that might assist in preparing a case note will be shared on Canvas. Searching law journals for case notes and case commentaries may assist students in familiarising themselves with how written case notes are generally presented. Any student wishing to prepare a case note on a different one of the assigned cases for the written assessment than the one on which they did their oral assessment must obtain permission in writing.

Word limit penalty: A piece of assessment which exceeds the prescribed word limit will attract a penalty of 10% of the total marks available for the piece of assessment for every 100 words, or part thereof. The total word count for essay and other written assessments will exclude all footnotes and any bibliography (if required).  

Use of editors or proof-readers: The use of assistance in preparing and editing assessment tasks in this unit of study is strictly prohibited. Assistance includes human and automated writing tools (not including spell checking).  The use of Studiosity does not breach this rule but must be acknowledged. 

Special consideration: Successful grants of Special Consideration may involve alternative tasks, as appropriate. 

Assessment requirements to pass a unit of study: A student must make a genuine attempt at all assessment tasks set out in this Unit of Study in order to obtain a Pass mark and grade (or above); otherwise an Absent Fail grade will be recorded as the student’s result for this Unit of Study.