Law Commons^™

Strategic Environmental Assessment: Lessons For New South Wales, Australia, From Scottish Practice, Andrew H. Kelly, Tony Jackson, Peter Williams

Faculty of Law - Papers (Archive)

Disparate approaches to strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in New South Wales (NSW), Australia and Scotland are compared. The first is fragmented and unfamiliar while the other is well established. A detailed analysis of the use of SEA in each jurisdiction follows a contextual evaluation of its purpose. Whereas the Scottish system is supported by recent regulation and policy, both NSW and the overriding Commonwealth Government follow haphazard actions with few if any settled methodologies. In order to improve its environmental assessment credentials and promote more sustainable development outcomes, NSW might consider the need for SEA more seriously. Investigation of other …

Island Disputes And The "Oil Factor" In The South China Sea Disputes, Clive H. Schofield

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

The South China Sea has long been regarded as one of the key potential flashpoints for conflict in the Asia-Pacific, alongside North Korea and Taiwan. Recently tensions have been on the rise and relations between China and the other South China Sea littoral states have become more fraught – characterised not only by diplomatic claim and counter-claim (though frequently framed in less than diplomatic language) but also, more worryingly, by confrontations at sea.

Context, as they say, is everything. This article briefly outlines geopolitical drivers that sustain these complex and seemingly intractable disputes, and seeks to shed light on their …