Leading South African Environmental Law Professor Louis J. Kotze Visits Sturm College of Law

One of the great pleasures of life at the Sturm College of Law is hosting important visitors from around the globe. That was certainly the case recently week when Louis J. Kotze, a leading environmental law professor from South Africa visited the University of Denver.

Professor Kotze, who teaches at the North-West University in South Africa, is a widely published authority on South African and international environmental law. Among his recent journal articles are "The Plight of the Poor and the Perils of Climate Change: Time to Rethink Environmental and Socio-economic Rights in South Africa?" scheduled to be published soon in the Journal on Human Rights and the Environment and "Access to Water in South Africa: Constitutional Perspectives from a Developing Country," which was published in 2009 in the Finnish Environmental Law Review. He has also edited and contributed to many books about environmental law.

While at the College of Law, Professor Kotze met with several members of the DU faculty: Professor and Associate Dean Fred Cheever, Professor and Director of the Law Clinic Mike Harris, Professor George (Rock) Pring, and Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law Program Don Smith.

Among the topics that the group discussed included the evolution of environmental law in South Africa and the ratification of a new constitution in 1996 that greatly extends environmental rights in the country. Professor Kotze also told the group from DU about the country's major environmental challenges, not least of which are related to the socio-economic issues the country faces as a developing country such as South Africa.

Professor Don Smith interviewed Professor Kotze, and the interview can be accessed by clicking here.

[In the picture above are from left to right Professors Rock Pring, Louis Kotze, Mike Harris, and Fred Cheever.]