Law and the Environment 2007

5th Annual Conference for Environmental Professionals

Thursday, 26 April 2007
Boole Lecture Theatres 1 & 4
University College Cork

Aimed at a wide range of environmental professions, this conference will explore a broad selection of topics and will involve presentations by leading experts in the field of environmental law from Ireland and beyond.

The body of environmental and planning rules - applying to potentially harmful activities and major development projects - continues to grow in terms of its complexity and the scope of its coverage, thus increasing the burden on businesses and other actors, in complying with and enforcing these rules and regulations.

However, there is also concern that access to justice for ordinary citizens is being restricted in relation to environmental issues. At the same time, the costs of taking a legal challenge to Governmental plans or decisions on environmental or planning grounds - and, therefore, the financial risks for a private person or a local environmental pressure group - have become prohibitive. In addition, new environmental issues and regulatory challenges emerge constantly, which require considered and coherent legal and policy responses at the European Community and national levels.

These are some of the issues which will examined at University College Cork at the fifth annual 'Law and the Environment' conference on Thursday, 26th April, 2007.

The Environmental Law Group, based within the Faculty of Law at UCC, is involved in leading-edge research in all aspects of environmental law and regulation and is fast becoming a recognised centre of excellence in this area, both nationally and internationally. In addition, it plays a key role in developing an understanding of environmental issues in Ireland, by providing a national forum which brings together legal practitioners, regulators, policy-makers, environmental NGOs and business interest groups, senior managers from industry and utilities, as well as academics, with an interest in environmental law and policy.

In recent years, the conference programme has been significantly expanded and, this year, there are a total of 14 presentations scheduled and arranged into five specialist sessions. These include sessions on The EC Directive on Environmental Liability, on Environmental Enforcement and on Innovation in Environmental Regulation - as well as a more general session on Sectoral and Cross-Cutting Issues in Environmental Law, which include presentations on a range of key issues impacting upon environmental governance in Ireland today.

The conference builds on the success of similar events held over the last four years and it is now the pre-eminent event in the Irish Environmental Law calendar. More than two hundred lawyers and other professionals are expected to attend this event in April and it is intended, once again, to provide a unique platform for the practical and informal exchange of views on this rapidly developing area of law.

PROGRAMME

8.30 am: Registration and Tea / Coffee
- Boole Basement, University College Cork

8.45 am: Welcome Address
Dr. Michael Murphy, President, University College Cork

8.55 am: Dean's Welcome
Prof. Caroline Fennell, Dean, Faculty of Law, University College Cork

SESSION 1
EC Directive on Environmental Liability
(Plenary Session - Boole Lecture Theatre 4)

Chair: Prof. Steve Hedley, Faculty of Law, University College Cork

9.00 am: Ms. Lisa Broderick, Matheson Ormsby Prentice, Solicitors, Dublin
The Directive on Environmental Liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage (2004/35/EC) - An Overview

9.30 am: Mr. Tom Flynn BL
The Directive on Environmental Liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage (2004/35/EC) - A Critical Analysis of its Implications for Irish Environmental Law

10.00 am: TEA/COFFEE

SESSION 2
Environmental Enforcement I
(Plenary Session - Boole Lecture Theatre 4)

Chair: Prof. Brian Carroll, Faculty of Law, University College Cork

10.30 am: Dr. Áine Ryall, Faculty of Law, University College Cork
Discretion and flexibility: practical consequences for Environmental Assessment

11.00 am: Mr. Eamon Galligan SC
The Costs of Environmental and Planning Litigation: Who Should Pay and Who Does Pay?

11.30 am: Mr Joe Noonan, Noonan Linehan Carroll Coffey, Solicitors, Cork
Planning and Democracy: Moving Beyond Conflict

12.00 noon: LUNCH

SESSION 3
Sectoral and Cross-Cutting Issues in Environmental Law
(Parallel Session - Boole Lecture Theatre 1)

Chair: Dr. Jonathan Derham, Environmental Protection Agency

2.00 pm: Ms. Margaret Austin, McCann FitzGerald, Solicitors, Dublin
The Building Blocks for Strategic Infrastructure Development: The Steps Involved in Making a Strategic Infrastructure Planning Application

2.30 pm: Ms. Finola McCarthy, Ronan Daly Jermyn, Solicitors, Cork
Noise Pollution: Recent Developments in Irish Law

3.00 pm: Ms. Joanne Blennerhassett, Faculty of Law, University College Dublin
The MOX Plant Case and its Implications

3.30 pm TEA/COFFEE

SESSION 4
Innovation in Environmental Regulation
(Parallel Session - Boole Lecture Theatre 4)

Chair: Prof. Irene Lynch-Fannon, Faculty of Law, UCC

2.00 pm: Ms. Orla Joyce, A & L Goodbody, Solicitors, Dublin
The EC Regulation on Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) - An Overview

2.30 pm: Dr. Owen McIntyre, Faculty of Law, University College Cork
The Potential Role of Voluntary Environmental Agreements in the Implementation of European Community Environmental Law

3.00 pm: Mr. Rónán Kennedy, Faculty of Law, National University of Ireland, Galway
Possible Irish Responses to Climate Change

3.30 pm: TEA/COFFEE

SESSION 5
Environmental Enforcement II
(Plenary Session - Boole Lecture Theatre 4)

Chair: Mr. David Holland S.C.

3.45 pm: Prof. Richard Macrory, Faculty of Law, University College London
Regulatory Justice: Making Sanctions Effective

4.15 pm: Mr. Liam Cashman, Directorate-General Environment, European Commission
European Community Environmental Law and the Means for Ensuring Member State Accountability

4.45 pm: Ms. Deborah Spence, Arthur Cox, Solicitors, Dublin
Enforcement: the View from the Other Side of the Fence

5.15 pm: Discussion and Concluding Remarks

6.00 pm: Wine Reception - River Room, Lewis Glucksman Gallery, UCC
- sponsored by Ronan Daly Jermyn, Solicitors, Cork

The Faculty of Law, UCC reserves the right to substitute and to rearrange presentations

Conference Convenor
Dr. Owen McIntyre, Faculty of Law, UCC
Email: [email protected]
Tel. 021 4902090

Conference Secretary
Aimée Mullins, Faculty of Law, UCC
Email: [email protected]
Tel. 021-4903220

Cost
Conference (including lunch, tea / coffee and conference materials) -

• Single delegate: €295 (Academics €195 / NGOs: €95)
• Two delegates: €450 (Further reductions available for multiple delegates)
• Newly qualified solicitors / barristers of less than 5 years standing: €150

Continuing Professional Development
6 hours Group Study (General) Law Society CPD credit.
Certificate of attendance will be issued.

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