PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT – National Environmental Law Symposium in Ottawa, February 26 & 27, 2016
The Canadian Institute of Resources Law (CIRL), a federal not-for-profit organization established in 1979 by the Faculty of Law at the University of Calgary, the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law and Ontario Bar Association are organizing the national symposium Environment in the Courtroom: Inspections and Enforcement Issues: On-site and in Court. This symposium, funded by Environment Canada, is free of charge and can be attended in person at the University of Ottawa on February 26 & 27, or alternatively viewed online as a live webcast on the symposium dates.
This is the fifth national environmental law symposium organized by CIRL, a leading national centre of expertise on natural resources law and policy issues and our partners. During the last four years, practitioners, judges and academics from across Canada have attended and contributed to the discussion of current important environmental law issues. Attendees at previous symposiums have reported that the sessions are both practical and useful. We encourage questions from the audience after the presentations. The session papers, translated into both of Canada’s official languages, will be posted on the CIRL website.
SYMPOSIUM OVERVIEW
One defining feature in Canadian environmental law is the frontline role played by government agencies and their “boots on the ground”. There now exists in both federal and provincial environmental legislation an array of powers – preventative, remedial and punitive – that the regulated community can expect to encounter. It is difficult to detect any uniform approach throughout the legislation; in the result, the full range of legal implications arising out of such powers and orders is not always well understood by court practitioners, whether at first instance (e.g. on-site) or in the context of a prosecution. Topics to be discussed include:
- Inspections and Compliance: Overview – The Provincial and Federal Regulatory Framework;
- Anatomy of Compliance Regime I: Initiating and Action – Private Practitioner’s and Regulator’s Perspectives;
- Anatomy of Compliance Regime II: Collecting Evidence – Legal Strategy and Associated Issues with a Scientist’s Perspective;
- Anatomy of Compliance Regime III: Investigations – Corporate and Government Perspectives;
- Anatomy of Compliance Regime IV: Recapitulation and Alternatives – Lessons from the United States;
- Special Problems: Contaminated Sites – A Practical Case Study.
REGISTRATION
For more details, or to register, please visit the webpage at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/environment-in-the-courtroom-inspections-and-enforcement-issues-on-site-and-in-court-tickets-19304821240.
LIVE WEBCASTING
The symposium will be webcast and available as a download following the symposium.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & ACCREDITATION
This symposium may qualify as a CPD learning activity in your province, territory or state.
FOR REGISTRATION AND GENERAL INQUIRIES, PLEASE CONTACT:
Sue Parsons
Administrative Coordinator
Canadian Institute of Resources Law
Phone: 403 220 3200
Email: sparsons@ucalgary.ca
Website: www.cirl.ca
