https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/6473 2026-04-04T05:27:07Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/6529 Title: Is there a need for a specific shale gas regulatory framework? : comparative, European and international perspectives Abstract: In the United States, attitudes towards shale gas activities vary from State to State ranging from temporary bans to high level production. Similarly, in the UE, the potential of shale gas has met with a mixed response. While France is the first country which banned shale gas developments, the United Kingdom has mostly adopted a permissive approach to shale gas activities. The diversity of stance amongst States raises questions about the level at which legislation regarding shale oil and gas activities should be adopted. The European Commission recently came up with Recommendations on hydraulic fracturing which has raised questions about its competence and the added value of this intervention. Meanwhile in the United States intense debate among interested parties have arose as to whether hydraulic fracturing should be regulated at state or federal level. While at the international level, several best practice guidelines for developing unconventional resources such as the IEA golden rules or the OGP good practices have been elaborated. This thesis will try to assess whether a coherent response to shale gas is necessary and appropriate. Main Challenge encountered: There is a lot of debate on the potential risks and impacts of shale gas projects, whether to regulate specifically such developments or not, whether unconventional gas development should be fostered or terminated. Consequently, the legal framework tends to evolve quickly at national level, with new legal developments being proposed as this thesis was being written. In most countries, the existing legal framework to regulate shale gas is composed of collection of overlapping sectorial and cross-sectorial laws. The challenge was to identify the relevant legislation that would apply specifically to shale gas since almost none of the countries/regions studied have adopted specific requirements to cover the potential health and environmental impacts associated with shale gas extraction. Description: LL.M.ENERGY ENV.CLIMATE 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/6528 Title: Legal aspects on climate change adaptation through good governance Abstract: I decided upon the topic of climate change adaptation and good governance as the subject of this research project as I feel that adaptation is a very relevant topic in the present climate change discussion, on a global, regional and local level. For too long, the subject of adaptation has not been given the importance that it realistically requires as there are numerous impacts of climate change already being felt. The subject was examined from the perspective of international climate change discussions under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the European Union, as well as from the comparative perspective where I examined the adaptation strategies of two individual nations; namely Malta and the United States of America. I found that adaptation is not the neglected topic that I initially thought it to be. Although there is much progress that remains to be achieved, overall there is solid groundwork that has occurred in recent years, within the international, local and regional aspects. This will help the further development of adaptation in the future. There is definite room for improvement, especially when considering that there are few legal obligations in place that would ensure that states are actually adapting, especially when compared to climate change mitigation. However the recent progress that has taken place in this regard will prove to be beneficial in the future when perhaps the current strategies will continue to be built up and improved. Description: LL.M.ENERGY ENV.CLIMATE 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/6527 Title: Global regime of liability for nuclear damage Abstract: The idea of writing this work stemmed from the necessity to search for a way out of the current situation in the world connected with the climate change and leading to a catastrophic increase in volumes of CO2 in the atmosphere. Nuclear energy can become one of the key methods of restraining the global warming on the planet. However, “ecological compatibility” in the process of planned operation of nuclear power plants can turn into an ecological disaster in case of a sudden accident. The desire to analyse the current situation in the sphere of liability for nuclear damage, to identify strong and weak elements of established and developing legal relationships at international, European and national levels, and also the degree of the international community's capability to create a global regime of liability for nuclear damage formed the mainspring of writing this work. The basic conclusion of the thesis is the acknowledgement of readiness of countries to work towards creation of the global regime of liability. This is confirmed by the preoccupation which manifests itself in appearance of new effective solutions in the field of uses of peaceful nuclear energy at physical level thanks to the invention of safe reactors, in creation of functional structures for the financial component of liability for nuclear damage and in revision of legislation in an attempt to unify the current system of liability. It should be admitted that the most effective step in this direction will become accession of all countries to one convention regulating liability for nuclear damage instead of ratification of separate conventions and protocols to them. Description: LL.M.ENERGY ENV.CLIMATE 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/6526 Title: Criminal liability in environmental law Abstract: Respect for legal standards geared towards the protection of the environment depends upon the existence of criminal penalties at law, which ought to be sufficiently dissuasive as well as able to be adapted to environmental issues. Environmental crime encompasses activities that range from careless behaviours to deliberate actions causing environmental harm. The risk of giving rise to criminal liability, rather than or together with the other types of liability, has the benefit of ensuring more effective environmental compliance. The main reason being, that the cost of civil or administrative penalties can be internalised by the non-compliant juridical persons, without ever actually effecting changes so as to eliminate unlawful impact on the environment. On the other hand, criminal sanctions can play a significant role in deterring environmental crime, in such a way that the fear of criminal prosecution and imprisonment may more likely deter the violation of environmental law. Criminal punishments often target the natural persons, who, in turn, would suffer detrimental social and professional impacts. Thus, the availability of criminal liability in environmental law has the potential of preventing environmental harm and not merely redressing it. Traditional criminal liability requires the illegal act to be intentional as well as committed with mens rea. However, such requirements interfere with the enforcement of offences that have the purpose of protecting the environment. It is crucial that, the courts reflect such concept of an environmental crime. This is not an easy matter at hand, particularly due to the nature of the environmental crime itself. In fact, the environmental crime is often not jurisdiction specific, it relates to damage done to common property and may be committed simultaneously with other crimes. Furthermore, such features of the environmental crime have been made to be balanced out with the legal consequences as deriving from the concepts of the polluter pays principle, the precautionary principle, the protection of biodiversity and the preservation of intergenerational equity. For all this and more, the incorporation of criminal liability in environmental law is a challenge at the international, the European Union as well as the national level. It follows that, the Thesis aims at dealing with the subject on the three levels, in such a way that it analyses the existing status of criminal liability of environmental offences on each respective level, while suggesting a way forward towards a more effective environmental criminal law. Chapter 1 of the Thesis continues by discussing the scope of criminal liability in environmental law as well as the intrinsic characteristics of an environmental crime. Chapter 2 follows up by treating criminal liability from the international environmental law point of view, by analysing the existing legal instruments, if any, as to the prosecution of environmental damages by the International Courts, as well as by discussing the challenges bound to be encountered by the International Criminal Law of the Environment. Chapter 3, then, treats the title from the European Union Law point of view, by discussing the existing legal instruments that criminalise environmental wrong-doings at the European Union level. Chapter 4 takes up the examples of the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America as the backdrop for a comparative legal analysis of environmental crime. Finally, Chapter 5 concludes by drawing upon the main points of the Thesis and recommends ways forward. Description: LL.M.ENERGY ENV.CLIMATE 2014-01-01T00:00:00Z