LLM or MLS in Climate Change and Environmental Law

Course-Work Program – students applying for the MLS degree and those applying to the LLM with course work only will be offered a 10-month program that includes eight mandatory courses.  Most courses will have written assessments, but when applicable other assessments will be used such as presentation delivery, participation in seminars, and engagement in outside classroom activities.

Research Thesis– this component is available to students who wish to undertake a research thesis.  Supervision will be provided during the time spent researching and writing the thesis and this path can be pursued in country or virtually abroad; students will have up to a year to complete their research paper.

Environmental Law Clinic – this component is available to students wishing to participate in six months of environmental law clinic study, an opportunity to study the theory and engage in the practice of public interest environmental lawyering in a supervised clinical setting. Students enrolled in the Clinic provide legal information and assistance to environmental NGOs, community groups and government. 

To apply to this Program, please fill out the Application form that can be found at the bottom of the website.  Upload the Application form along with the following:

• $80 US application fee.  Do not send cash.  Make money order payable to JSW School of Law;
• Personal Statement – An essay of maximum 500 words addressing the question “Why this Programme?”; and
• Resume or CV.

All other documents requested are to be sent directly to the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Law at JSW School of Law, Pangbisa, Paro, P. O. Box 1204, Bhutan, including:

• Official transcripts;
• TOEFL or IELTS scores; and
• Two letters of recommendation sent by referees –  atleast one of which should be from your academic institution.

   

The world is in crisis, and our demand on natural resources and ecological services far exceeds the Earth’s capacity to regenerate.  Anthropocentric or materialist ways of life are unsustainable and have caused the current climate crisis that is threatening our very existence.  It is not enough to treat each other with respect, we must also respect the natural environment and learn to live in harmony with nature.  No matter who we are or where we come from, the impact of global environmental change impacts everyone.  As a global community, we can achieve the goal of an equitable and sustainable world but only if our laws, policies, actions reflect and protect our shared values of justice, interdependence and compassion.  Strong and dynamic climate change and environmental laws and policies can promote climate and ecological justice.  To ensure justice, people and institutions must have the ability to identify climate and environmental related problems and resolve them collaboratively.  This is why this program has been conceived – to train global climate leaders and support collective action against the existential threat of climate change and global environmental destruction.

Undertaking your LLM or MLS in Climate Change and Environmental Law at JSW School of Law will give you a unique program.  Bhutan is one of the few carbon-negative countries in the world and currently is home to a greater diversity of flora and fauna found anywhere.  However, Bhutan is no longer an isolated community and developmental changes are underway.  This program at JSW Law offers Bhutan as a laboratory to study how carbon negativity has been achieved through distinctive methodologies and philosophies concerning development and the interconnectivity between humans and nature.  Come and learn about Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness, it’s countries constitutional guiding policy and framework tool in its Constitution.  This LLM/MLS is a new dynamic program offering students new tools of engagement, new understandings of how approaches to development can be different and the role that climate change and environmental laws play in this process.  The curriculum is designed with an international framework that situates climate change and environmental law within the realm of the global context.  

The curriculum has been designed to offer students an international approach to Climate Change and Environmental Law through interdisciplinary study, while highlighting human-centered values guiding local laws and policies that play distinct roles in environmental protection.  The two-semester course offerings begin with a focus on Bhutan.  A nine-week course team taught by scientists, legal scholars, social scientists and civil servants that provide students with a comprehensive introduction to Bhutan’s approach to environmental protection.  Looking beyond the local, a set of courses will be offered that provide students with curricula that focuses on the international realm, such as International Climate Change Law, Indigenous Knowledge and International Environmental Law, Transnational Law, Disaster Law, Water Law and Climate Finance.  In addition, a course offering basic Science for Lawyers will be part of the curriculum. 

Whether you are pursuing a LLM or MLS, your studies at JSW School of Law will prepare you to to work at an advanced level in climate change and environmental law and policy. If you are upgrading your professional skills or beginning a new career, you will be able to use the climate change and environmental law expertise gained in this LLM or MLS in a variety of ways: in the international arena working in multilateral organizations; at the national level working in the public sector; or working at all levels in civil society.  Whether you pursue a career in a law firm or choose take an alternative path, this degree will prepare you for meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

Our students come from all over the world and are a mix of those just finishing their undergraduate law degrees, practising lawyers who want to learn about environmental law, environmental lawyers wanting to deepen their knowledge, plus those who have been working for government, in CSOs, and for businesses.  One of the best things about this Program is the diversity of our student body, who bring with them their respective experiences and different forms of expertise.

Our Program offers top quality teaching from a wide range of international faculty as well as expertise from Bhutan’s environmental community.  Small classes help build a strong community among students and faculty.  Critical analysis is used both in the classroom as well as in the field to ensure that students are offered the connection between the theoretical and practical applications of the law. Students  are provided with first-hand experience working in the local communities, using Bhutan as a case study highlighting the complexities inherent in climate change and environmental law providing a life-changing experience to those who study at JSW Law.

There are many career paths that can be taken after studying our Program. Lawyers working for one’s own national government to address international climate change law; policy makers working for environmental agencies; lawyers and activists working in CSOs; lawyers working at international and multilateral organisations; practicing lawyers who are working in small or large firms. There is no one path from this degree, but rather many different career opportunities are available.