Justice Brian Preston, Chief Judge of New South Wale's Pioneering "Land and Environment Court," Speaks to Students, Faculty, and Others

Justice Brian Preston, Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales, Australia, spoke at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law last Friday about the operation and the benefits of a specialized court whose jurisdiction is all matters having to do with environmental law.

"It is a one-stop shop where you can bring all aspects of environmental law,” Justice Preston stated. The court on which he sits is 30 years old, created by statute and operating on the state level in Australia’s federal system. Most environmental disputes in his country, Justice Preston related, are matters of state law. Judges on the Land and Environment Court (LEC) are experts in environmental law, and they are assisted by commissioners, technically able in the complicated matters that come before an environment court.

“Access to justice is of critical importance,” said Justice Preston. Consequently, the LEC has adopted a policy of open standing, permitting any person to bring a case. Asked whether any downside exists to open standing, the Justice adamantly stated, “Absolutely not. There has been no flood of litigation. And you don’t need standing requirements to get rid of cases that amount to no more than rubbish.”

The LEC, he reported, is able to dispose of cases efficiently, with many cases handled in 30 days and nearly all disposed of within one year. Another advantage to the Land and Environment Court, according to Justice Preston, is the nature of environmental issues. “They are polycentric,” he said, involving legal issues and also social, political, economic, and scientific questions.

Justice Preston has advocated for and assisted in the formation of environmental courts in other parts of Australia and in other nations. He related that India is the country most recently that has created an environmental court, passed through a national tribunal act.

Don Smith, Director of the Environmental and Natural Resources Law program, said, "The Sturm College of Law was honored to host Justice Preston. Those attending Justice Preston's presentation benefited from his observations about the LEC, which is widely regarded as one of the leading courts of its kind in the world.

"Professor George (Rock) Pring played a key role in bringing Justice Preston to the Sturm College of Law. Professor Pring has co authored, along with his wife Catherine (Kitty) Pring, a landmark book, Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and Tribunals. During their work on that book, the Prings became acquaitned with Justice Preston. Students attending the Sturm College of Law benefit greatly from these types of cutting-edge presentations, and all of us are greatly indebted to Justice Preston and Professor Pring for last week's event."

Professor Rock Pring and Kitty Pring, Authors of Ground-Breaking Study on "Environmental Courts and Tribunals," Speak in Chile and Australia

The ground-breaking book Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and Tribunals, authored by Professor Rock Pring of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and alternative dispute resolution-expert (and wife) Catherine Pring, continues to generate enormous interest all across the world.

Most recently the Prings were invited to critique the proposed legislation for Chile’s new environmental courts and tribunals (ECT) at the University of Chile Environmental Law Conference in Santiago.

According to Professor Pring, "Chile has just adopted sweeping reforms to their environmental laws and enforcement institutions, of which the new ECT will be a central feature." While there, the Prings advised Chile’s national Environment Minister, the Superintendent of the Environment, and attorneys for the Ministry and Superintendency on the new institution.

In September, they co-presented on “Judicial Challenges with ECTs” at the Australasian Conference of Planning and Environment Courts and Tribunals (ACPECT) in Sydney, Australia, and presented a paper on “Specialized ECTs: The Explosion of New Institutions to Adjudicate Climate Change” at the Conference on Environmental Governance and Democracy co-sponsored by Yale Law School and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) in New Haven, CT.

The Prings co-direct the University of Denver Environmental Courts and Tribunals (ECT) Study – which they began in 2007 – researching, writing, and advising about these specialized environmental adjudication bodies. To learn more about the study, please click here.

Professor Pring says, "The goal of the Prings’ ECT Study and book is to provide needed assistance to governments and civil society around the world on how to establish or reform ECTs, with guidance on best practices, in line with the University of Denver’s motto of 'A private university working in the public interest.'”

Environmental Law Professor George Pring Takes Part in First Ever Judicial Training Session in Philippines Focusing on Rules for Environmental Cases

Professor George (Rock) Pring, an internationally known environmental law professor at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and an expert on environmental courts and tribunals, recently took part in the first-ever "Judicial Training Conference on the new Philippines Rules for Environmental Cases."

The conference, held in Palawan, Philippines, featured many of the country's top judges. During the conference Professor Pring interviewed and consulted with the judges.

Professor Pring and his wife, Catherine, have authored a major new study, "Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and Tribunals," that examines environmental courts and tribunals. The report is published by the Access Initiative of the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute.

[In the picture, the newly sworn-in Chief Justice of the Philippines Supreme Court, Renato C. Corona is seated-center – and immediately left of him (in glasses) is just-retired Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno, the father of the Philippines’ environmental courts and rules. Professor Pring is standing in the back row on the far left side. Photo credit: J. P. Galang, Philippines Supreme Court.]

Environmental Courts and Tribunals Study Co-authored by DU Law Professor George (Rock) Pring Featured in The New York Times

The first comprehensive global report on the status of environmental courts and tribunals, which was authored by University of Denver Sturm College of Law Professor George (Rock) Pring and his wife Catherine Pring, was featured recently in The New York Times.

The report, "Greening Justice: Creating and Improving Environmental Courts and Tribunals," published by the Access Initiative of the Washington, D.C.-based World Resources Institute, identified 12 essential elements "that go into making environment courts successful," according to Prof. Pring.

According to the Times' article:

"The number of courts and tribunals specializing in environmental issues doubled during the past decade, prompted by increasingly complex regulations and growing concerns about natural resources, according to a new study."

The article, entitled "Study: Last Decade Saw Boom in Environmental Courts, Tribunals" (April 20, 2010), can be accessed by clicking here.

The map at left indicates (in green) the countries in which environmental courts or tribunals exist.

Please click here to visit the Prings' Environmental Courts and Tribunals website.

Students attending the Sturm College of Law have the opportunity of learning directly from world recognized environmental law professors such as Professor Pring. Among the courses he teaches are "Environmental Law," "International Environmental Law," and "International Water Law." He is also the faculty advisor for the University of Denver Water Law Review, the leading water law journal in the U.S.

LLM Students Glauce Santesso Coelho and Taciana Marques Play Key Roles as DU Hosts Brazilian Federal Judges Association Conference

Recently the DU Sturm College of Law hosted a visit of more than 30 members of the Association of Federal Judges of Brazil. The Brazilian judges visited the college of law and Denver to learn more about the U.S. legal system as well as to visit several courts located in Denver.

The week-long event was organized by Prof. Rock Pring and his wife Catherine Pring as well as the former president of Brazil's Federal Court of Appeals of the 4th Region Judge Vladimir Passos de Freitas. Prof. Pring and Judge Freitas met several years ago when the Prings were visiting Brazil while working on their Environmental Courts and Tribunals study.

Two Brazilian LLM students were centrally involved in helping the college of law host the members of Brazil's federal judiciary. According to Prof. Pring, "One of the really innovative aspects of the conference was engaging Glauce Coelho [who has practiced as an associate attorney at Demarest & Almeida Advogados and Mattos Filho Advogados, both in Sao Paulo], an impressive Brazilian lawyer who is here getting her LLM in our world-famous Graduate Program in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. Glauce and her team provided the professors with background papers on the Brazilian law of their subjects, inserted Portuguese translations onto the professors' PowerPoints, and assisted the Judges with their questions throughout the morning lectures and afternoon field trips. She was ably supported by two other students of ours: Taciana Marques, [senior associate attorney at Souza Cescon Barrieu & Flesch Advogados in Sao Paulo] another Brazilian lawyer in our LLM Program, and Sierra Russell, a U.S. student in our JD Program who is fluent in Portuguese. The Judges told me they were highlights of the program."

Pictured in the photograph above are Judge Claudia Cristina Cristofani, Prof. Don Smith, attorney Taciana Marques, attorney Glauce Santesso Coelho, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Carlos Lucero, Judge Nino Oliveira Toldo, Judge Marcelo Navarro Ribeiro Dantas, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Neil Gorsuch, and Judge Jose Henrique Guaracy Rebelo. The photograph was taken in the Denver Federal Courthouse where the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals is located.

International Videocast: DU “ECT Study” Team Tele-Presents to Queensland, Australia, Environmental Court Judges

DU Law Professor George (Rock) Pring and research partner Catherine (Kitty) Pring presented a keynote address – via DU’s state-of-the-art video communications system – to the Judges of the Planning and Environment Court (PEC) in Australia’s State of Queensland, on Monday, Aug. 10, at 5:00 pm (9:00 am Tuesday for the Judges, who were 16 hours ahead). There was spirited discussion in both trans-Pacific directions, since each group could see the other in realtime on giant flatscreen tvs.

The Prings outlined the findings of the University of Denver Environmental Courts and Tribunals (ECT) Study – the first global comparative study of these fast-spreading judicial and administrative bodies specializing in resolving disputes involving environment, land use, sustainable development, and related issues. There are now over 250 ECTs in at least 37 different countries.

The invitation to keynote the PEC conference was a particular honor, since that court is a longstanding model ECT with very experienced environmental judges. (For an overview of the PEC's activities in 2007-2008, please see "District Court of Queensland Annual Report 2007-2008," page 29-30.)

PEC Judge Michael Rackemann served as the "host" of the conference session in which the Prings appeared. Judge Rackemann gave an excellent, well-attended presentation earlier this year (to see the video, please click here) to our students and faculty on the Environmental Courts of Queensland during his visit to DU. The presentation was sponsored by five student groups: the Natural Resources and Environmental Law Society, Land Use Law Society, Construction and Real Estate Law Society, Native American Law Students Association, and International Law Society. He was visiting DU as a consequence of an earlier interview the Prings had conducted with him in Australia for the ECT Study.

A unique aspect of the ECT Study is that it is being done by a multidisciplinary husband-wife team. Each brings complementary expertise to the project. Professor Pring is a noted scholar, teacher, and consultant in environmental, international, and constitutional law and a former environmental litigation attorney. Mrs. Pring is an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) expert, professional mediator and facilitator, systems analyst, and former government health and human services administrator.

According to the Prings, "The goal of the study is to produce a practical, capacity-building 'tool kit' – of models, options, issues, and best practices – to guide governments and others in establishing or reforming ECTs. The study finds 12 basic 'design decisions' are involved in creating an effective ECT." The study will be published by The Access Initiative of the World Resources Institute thinktank (TAI-WRI) in Washington, DC, in December, in free print and on-line versions.

The Prings have researched, observed, and interviewed over 150 ECT judges, prosecutors, attorneys, government officials, academics, and advocacy groups at 32 ECTs in 22 countries to provide that knowledge-base to others desiring to create or reform ECTs to improve citizen access to environmental justice. For more, see the ECT Study website.

To view a video interview (conducted in mid-April) about the study with the Prings, please click here.