Twenty Legal Doctrines Across Six Collections
Browse introductory articles explaining foundational legal doctrines and their relevance to environmental disputes. Each article traces the doctrine's history, legal framework, environmental applications, and critical perspectives, with links to actual cases from the collection.
Or explore case files directlyNuisance and Interstate Pollution
The common law of nuisance — both private and public — has been one of the primary legal mechanisms for addressing environmental harm since the nineteenth century. These cases trace the doctrine from private property disputes over industrial smoke to the Supreme Court's recognition of state quasi-sovereign interests in clean air and water, and its modern extension to invasive species and hydraulic fracturing.
Negligence and Environmental Harm
English common law · England and Wales
Negligence is a common law tort that holds a person responsible for harm caused by a failure to take reasonable care, and it applies to environmental damage where the risk of harm was reasonably foreseeable.
Private Nuisance
English common law · England and Wales
Private nuisance is a common law tort that protects the use and enjoyment of land from unreasonable interference arising from a neighbouring property.
Public Nuisance
English common law · England and Wales
Public nuisance is a common law tort and crime that protects public rights — such as access to highways, clean air, and public amenity — from interference that affects a class of the public rather than an individual landholder.
Water Rights and the Public Trust
Water law in the western United States developed around the doctrine of prior appropriation — 'first in time, first in right' — which prioritised consumptive use over instream flows. These cases trace the tension between prior appropriation and the public trust doctrine, and examine the constitutional right of access to water in South Africa.
Articles in this collection are currently in editorial review. They will appear here once their content has been verified and approved.
Land Use and Regulatory Takings
When does a government regulation that restricts property use go 'too far' and require compensation? These cases trace the development of regulatory takings doctrine from the foundational zoning case of Euclid through the ad hoc balancing of Penn Central, the categorical rule of Lucas, and the application of 'background principles' in Palazzolo and Good.
Articles in this collection are currently in editorial review. They will appear here once their content has been verified and approved.
Biodiversity and Environmental Assessment
The National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act provide two of the strongest legal frameworks for protecting ecosystems. These cases examine the requirements for environmental impact assessment of connected and cumulative actions, the scope of endangered species protection including habitat modification, and the mandatory nature of ESA obligations.
Articles in this collection are currently in editorial review. They will appear here once their content has been verified and approved.
Pollution Regulation and Hazardous Substances
Modern environmental law is built on statutory frameworks — the Clean Water Act, CERCLA, FIFRA, and the Clean Air Act — that empower agencies to regulate pollution through technology-based standards, impose liability for hazardous waste, and set air quality standards. These cases examine the scope of agency discretion, the breadth of hazardous waste liability, and the preemption of state law.
Articles in this collection are currently in editorial review. They will appear here once their content has been verified and approved.
International Environmental Trade and Climate Law
Environmental protection intersects with international trade law through the WTO's GATT exceptions and with climate law through the application of existing statutes to greenhouse gases. These cases examine the balance between free trade and environmental regulation, state standing to challenge agency inaction on climate, and the legal framework for regulating greenhouse gas emissions.
Articles in this collection are currently in editorial review. They will appear here once their content has been verified and approved.