Course co-ordinator:

Dr Alex Wawryk
Rm 2.06, Ligertwood Building, North Tce
alex.wawryk@adelaide.edu.au

Knowledge

To develop an understanding of:
1. the existence and structure of relevant international organisations and their role in the formulation of international energy law and policy;
2. the key principles of European Union energy law and policy;
3. the basic principles of petroleum arrangements between corporations and national governments, such as joint ventures and risk service agreements;
4. the need for resolution of disputes between corporations and national governments, and in the context, the basic principles of international commercial arbitration;
5. international laws governing the prevention of marine pollution by oil;
6. the role of international institutions in developing renewable energy law and policy;
7. key national measures to encourage renewable energy in electricity use;
8. the importance of energy as a basic human need and the development of access to energy a human right;
9. international arrangements for addressing climate change created under the UN Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention, and their impact on the energy industry;
10. international and regional measures to address climate change, in particular emissions trading schemes; and
11. international regulation of the use and development of nuclear energy and resources.

2. Intellectual and Social Capabilities

To develop:

12. the cognitive skills to analyse, evaluate and synthesise information from a wide variety of sources and experiences arising between participants and stakeholders in the international energy industry so as to identify and address appropriate legal and related issues;
13. an awareness and appreciation of the continuous state of development of legal principle applicable to international energy law, and a capacity to respond to such change and assist such development as appropriate;
14. an awareness and appreciation of the political and socio-economic context of international energy law;
15. critical thinking;
16. oral and written communication skills of a high order, including the use of appropriate modern communication technologies;
17. the capacity and commitment to learn and maintain intellectual curiosity, and to engage in life-long personal and professional learning;
18. familiarity with, and proficiency in, legal research techniques, including in the appropriate use of modern research technologies; and
19. an understanding of how legal skills may be employed to best serve the community in the field of international energy law.

Attitudes and values
 To develop:

20. the capacity to be informed, responsible and critically discriminating in relation to the development and application of international energy law;
21. a commitment to the rule of law and social justice through the operation of law; and
22. an understanding of social and cultural diversity, and sensitivity to the operation of the law and legal structures in the development and application of international energy law.

Students will be expected to have collected a copy of the prescribed readings from the Law School prior to the commencement of classes on July 21. The materials should be available approximately 6 weeks prior to the commencement of classes.

The Law Library subscribes to an on-line publication called OGEL, the Oil, Gas and Energy Law Intelligence service, available at http://www.gasandoil.com/ogel. You can access high quality articles on oil, gas and energy law from this site. Consult the Law Librarian for User ID and Password.

The Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP) at the University of Dundee, Scotland, publishes freely available articles, book reviews and developments on its website: http://www.dundee.ac.uk/cepmlp/journal.

Many international institutions provide access to official documents, other information and recent developments on their websites. Some useful sites for energy are:

• US Department for Energy, Energy Information Administration: http://www.eia.doe.gov/
• International Energy Agency (IEA): http://www.iea.org/
• European Union: http://europa.eu/
• European Commission Directorate-General Energy and Transport (follow link to energy site): http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/energy_transport/index_en.htm
• Energy Charter: http://www.encharter.org/
• ASEAN Centre for Energy: http://www.aseanenergy.org/
• Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC): http://www.opec.org/home/
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): http://www.oecd.org/home/0,2987,en_2649_201185_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA): http://www.iaea.org/
• OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA): http://www.oecd.org/topic/0,3373,en_2649_34667_1_1_1_1_37459,00.html
• International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA): http://www.irena.org/
• Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21): http://www.ren21.net/
• European Renewable Energy Council (EREC): http://www.erec.org/

MyUni will be used to post announcements, post additional lecture materials (including slides, and where available, audio recordings of lectures) and announce assignment tasks. It will also contain electronic copies of the Course Profile, Lecture and Seminar Guides, and Course Materials.
Students are expected to check MyUni regularly to keep up to date with these materials and additional learning resources throughout the course.
 

The topics covered in the first 4 days of this course will be taught in a combination of lectures and seminars. The seminars will comprise discussion focussed around a set of reading materials and questions issued prior to the class. These may be designed to develop certain themes or topics covered in the lectures, or to provide critical discussion of stand-alone topics. The seminar guides contain a general introduction to the law and to the general problems addressed by the law.

Members of the legal profession may provide guest lectures on specialised topics of international energy law. The topics and guest lecturers will be confirmed in 2014.

The fifth and final day of the course is a day dedicated to group discussion and presentations. More information on this day is set out below under the heading “Assessment”.

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

The University expects full-time students (ie those taking 12 units per semester) to devote a total of 48 hours per week to their studies. Students in this course are required to attend all classes throughout the course.

Classes in this course will be held as follows:

9.00am – 4.00pm, Room 4.10, Ligertwood Building, with a lunch break, from Monday 21 July to Friday 25 July 2014.

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from the Course Planner at https://access.adelaide.edu.au/courses/search.asp

 

DATE	TOPIC	PRESENTER
DAY 1: MONDAY 21 JULY
	Welcome and Course Arrangements	Alex Wawryk
Topic 1	Introduction to Energy Sources and Global Energy Markets	Seminar, Alex Wawryk
Topic 2	Introduction to International Energy Law - Key Themes and Scope of Discipline	Seminar, Alex Wawryk
Topic 3	The Formulation of International Energy Law and Policy: Sources and Actors	Seminar, Alex Wawryk
DAY 2: TUESDAY 22 JULY
Topic 4	International Petroleum Arrangements	Lecture, Alex Wawryk
Topic 5	Dispute Resolution in the International Energy Industry: International Commercial Arbitration	Lecture, Kath McEvoy, University of Adelaide (to be confirmed)
Topic 6	International Regulation of Marine Oil Pollution	Seminar, Alex Wawryk
DAY 3: WEDNESDAY 23 JULY
Topic 7	Climate Change and International Law: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol to the Convention	Seminar, Alex Wawryk
Topic 8	Emissions Trading Schemes	Lecture, Alex Wawryk
Topic 9	Energy Conservation and Renewable Energy	Lecture, Emeritus Professor Adrian Bradbrook (to be confirmed)
DAY 4: THURSDAY 24 JULY
Topic 10	European Union Energy Law: competition and energy markets	Lecture, Katelijn Van Hende, UCL (Adelaide) (to be confirmed)
Topic 11	Energy and Investment Disputes	Lecture, Alex Wawryk
DAY 5: FRIDAY 25 JULY
Topic 12	International Regulation of Nuclear Energy	Group Research and Presentation

 

 *This timetable and schedule of learning activities is subject to change according to the availability of guest lecturers in July* 

This course will provide for small group discovery through the use of small group in seminars to discuss pre-prepared answers to seminar questions; and by the small group research and presentation day regarding the regulation of nuclear energy.

Assessment item	% of final mark	Due date	Learning objectives
Class participation in seminars	10%	-	1, 2, 5, 9, 12-22
Group presentation	10%	Friday 25 July 2014	11, 12-19
Individual written assignment following group presentation	10%	Friday 1 August 2014	11, 12-22
Major essay	70%	Monday 15 September 2014	1-22

 

The group presentation, individual written assignment and the major essay are compulsory. Failure to complete these items of assessment will result in course failure.

Students must achieve at least 50% in class participation to pass the course. Seminar questions are designed to improve students’ treaty interpretation skills, legal problem-solving skills, and their ability to engage in critical analysis of international energy law. Participation marks provide a basis for assessing students’ ability to intelligently discuss and debate the law and its application to basic problems. Failure to achieve 50% will result in course failure.

Students who are unable to take part in the group presentation for medical or compassionate reasons must contact the Course Co-ordinator to arrange alternative, supplementary, written assessment.

Students who miss a seminar for medical or compassionate reasons may contact the Course Co-ordinator to arrange alternative, supplementary, written assessment in lieu of the participation mark for that seminar.

Class Participation: 10%

Each student will receive a grade at the conclusion of classes for their participation in class-room discussion during the course. This will be based on both their willingness to contribute comments and/or respond to questions and the quality of any contributions made.


Group Presentation: 10%

These will be done on Day 5 of the Course (Friday 25 July).

At the end of formal classes on Day 4 of the Course, the class will be divided into small groups, and reading materials distributed to each group. The number of groups, and the number of students in each group, will depend on the number of students enrolled in the Course.
Each group will be given one or two treaties concerning nuclear energy. Whether a group is given one or two treaties will depend on the size of the treaty and the size of the group. Each group will also be given two articles/references to read.

On Friday, all students will meet in Room 4.20 of the Ligertwood Building at 9.10am as usual, before dividing into groups to begin their work. Each group will discuss the questions relating to their treaty, and at the end of day will give a short group presentation, addressing the following questions: the need for the Convention, that is, the “mischief” or problem(s) the treaty is meant to resolve; the history of the Convention; and the main provisions of the Convention (i.e how the treaty deals with the problem(s) it aims to resolve).

If desired, further research can be done in the Law Library, or in the Hub on Hughes Plaza. The Course Co-ordinator will be available in Room 4.20 to answer questions from students that may arise during the course of the morning.

Presentations will take place on Friday between 2.15pm and 4pm. Each presentation will be of a maximum of 15 minutes. Every student in the group must participate in the oral presentation. Each group must produce a visual aid for the class, which may be in the form of a handout or a powerpoint presentation. All visual aids will be made available to the class on MyUni at the end of the presentation day. Any group that wishes to produce a handout must give it to the Course Co-ordinator by 1.30pm, to allow time for the handout(s) to be photocopied for the class.

Each group will be given a mark for their presentation. Each individual in the group will receive that group mark, which will be worth 10% of each student’s final grade.

More information will be given to students in a separate document in the Course Materials and placed on MyUni.


Individual Written Assignment following group presentation: 10%

A paper of 1,000 words will be required on a further, critical question set in relation to a treaty concerning nuclear energy researched and analysed for the group presentations on Friday 25 July 2014. The assignment questions will be given to students at the end of the Group Presentation day on Friday 25 July 2014.

This assignment must be researched, analysed, written and submitted by each student as an individual, not a group. It is designed to encourage individual critical analysis of the relevant treaty on nuclear energy that each student will have discussed in their particular group.

Due date of written assignment: Friday 1 August 2pm


Essay: 70%

A paper of 5,500 words (including references) will be required on a topic to be selected from a list of topics provided by the lecturer and available on MyUni. Students may propose their own topic for approval by the lecturer prior to the conclusion of the course.

Due date of Essay: Monday 15 September 2pm

Students must retain a copy of all assignments submitted.

All assignments in this course are to be submitted electronically through MyUni. By submitting your assignment electronically you are agreeing to the following:



Details for electronic submission through MyUni will be provided with the assignment instructions.

All written work in the Law school is required to comply with the approved Law School style guide, The Australian Guide to Legal Citation.

Extensions: Requests for extensions must be made via email to the course coordinator. Extensions will be granted only for unexpected illness, hardship or on compassionate grounds in accordance with University Policy. Work commitments, travel, holidays or sporting engagements are not unexpected circumstances.

Penalties:

• Late Submission: Submission penalties of 5% of the total mark possible will be deducted for every 24 hours or part thereof that it is late, including each day on a weekend. For example, an essay graded 63% will have 5% deducted if it is one hour late, for a final grade of 58%, 10% if it is 25 hours late, etc.
• Word Length: Assignments which exceed the allocated word length will be subject to a penalty of 5% of total marks possible per 100 words or part thereof (for example, with a word limit of 3,000 words, an essay graded 63% will have 5% deducted if it is 3001 words long, resulting in a final grade of 58%; 10% if it is 3101 words long, etc). Words are calculated including all substantive text in the footnotes and headings within the text but excluding cover page information. Quotations are included in the word count.

Turnaround time: The interim assignment for this course will be returned to students within 3 weeks of the submission date. Group feedback, together with written, individual feedback will be provided, from which students can learn for the final assignment. The final assignment will be returned to students within 4 weeks of the submission date with written individual feedback, unless otherwise notified by announcement on MyUni. Students will be notified by email when assignments are ready for collection from the Law School Front Office.

Plagiarism and other forms of cheating

Plagiarism is a serious act of academic misconduct. All students must be familiar with the Bachelor of Laws 2012 Commencing Student Guide or Re-Enrolment Guide, and should note in particular the sections relating to plagiarism, grievance procedures and academic conduct within the Law School and the University.

Plagiarism is a serious matter and is treated as such by the Law School and the University. Please be aware that “academic dishonesty” (which goes beyond plagiarism) can be a ground for a refusal by the Supreme Court of South Australia to refuse to admit a person to practice as a legal practitioner in South Australia.

Academic honesty is an essential aspect of ethical and honest behaviour, which is central to the practice of the law and an understanding of what it is to be a lawyer.