Young Maltese lawyers take the environment seriously

It is a sure sign that the environment is gaining in importance when two Maltese law graduates leave Malta to undertake a Master's on environmental issues at two leading UK universities.

While Karl Vella, 26, went to the University of Edinburgh to under-take a one-year full-time Master's (LL.M) in International Law and conducted research on international environmental law and governance, Emma Psaila, 25, undertook her LL.M at Cambridge University and submitted a thesis on the settlement of environmental disputes in light of the proliferation of courts and tribunals.

Dr Vella's dissertation focused on legal aspects of reform to the international environmental governance structure. He focused particularly on the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)'s role in co-ordinating and enhancing co-operation between multilateral environmental treaties and international organisations.

He was fortunate enough to be individually tutored and provided a lot of insight into the internal workings of the international environmental law treaties by Alan Boyle, a leading expert in the field of international environmental law and author of several articles and textbooks on the subject.

Prof. Boyle, explained to The Sunday Times that the issue that Dr Vella tackled was how to make the many multilateral environmental agreements function more effectively. "Could they work better - and more economically and efficiently - if placed under the administrative supervision of UNEP?" he asked. "The idea comes from the UN summit on sustainable development at Johannesburg in 2002. It is a kind of compromise between those who want to make UNEP an international organisation like WTO and those who think the present fragmented system of autonomous treaties actually works quite well," he added.

Dr Vella analysed the current structure of international environmental governance and found that the proliferation of these international environmental treaties has created an inefficient system of administrative multiplicities and overlapping state obligations.

His dissertation considered ways in which UNEP's profile could be raised to that of an international environmental organisation, and be empowered to forge and co-ordinate interlinkages between the numerous treaties.

He argued that the urgent needs concerning international environmental treaty governance and management would benefit from a global institution having policy-making powers spanning across the entire sphere of environmental activity.

"The new institution's comprehensive knowledge of global environmental concerns and necessities would enable it to discuss and negotiate in global international fora where environmental concerns are pitched against other global issues such as international trade, security, development and health," he said.

"Environmental concerns such as climate change can no longer be considered in isolation from other environmental concerns, or other problems on the world stage. They are inextricably linked to issues such trade, energy supply, health, as well as international, regional and national security.

"It is essential that society as a whole is made aware of such issues, and educated in the effects of national and international policy-making and legislation," he added.

He said that his research made him realise that there was a pressing need for the international community to undertake a concerted effort to address environmental concerns and improve international environmental treaty effectiveness.

Dr Vella has set himself an ambitious goal of eventually becoming a leading expert in the field of international environmental law. His LL.M was his first step. His is currently following it up with an internship at the Office of the Co-ordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna.

Dr Psaila's Master's involved a series of taught courses on various subjects including the settlement of international disputes, the law of armed conflict, the use of force and peacekeeping, international criminal law, the World Trade Organisation, and international economic law.

She also had to conduct research related to these subjects and chose as the subject of her thesis the settlement of international environmental disputes course, and conducted extensive research this area.

This involved researching into which international bodies have jurisdiction to settle international disputes and whether conflicts have arisen or could arise as between these bodies and their decisions. Her aim was to determine whether the multiplicity of judicial fora represents a problem and if so to what extent.

While Dr Psaila is the first to admit that the subject of international law tends to be faced with a degree of scepticism, she insists that understanding and researching international law issues has immense benefits for society.

"Researching foreign policies of various states, what states do, what they say they do and ultimately, what they are bound to do, leads to identification of the basic standards of conduct which states must abide by. This has a direct and practical benefit for society and a direct impact on the individuals," she stated.

Reflecting on her study abroad experience Dr Psaila said: "This has been a totally positive experience for me. Not only have I explored an area of the law for which I have a great passion in depth and under the instruction of prominent experts in the field but I have also learnt a lot from the people I have met and interacted with in Cambridge. I have developed my analytical skills further, discussed my subjects not only with classmates but also with friends from college studying for different degrees. This has allowed me to have a broad outlook on things. The confidence, knowledge, skills, independent way of thinking and cultural awareness I have gained are nvaluable."

Asked for her advice for other students who may be considering furthering their studies abroad, she immediately prompted: "Don't think twice, it is essential that you study abroad. The resources available, the sense of self-sufficiency and independence you will develop and the people you will meet will make you different in all the positive ways."

Both Dr Psaila and Dr Vella received support for their respective periods of study and research abroad under the Malta Government Scholarship Scheme (MGSS).

This and forthcoming articles on MGSS-sponsored research are presented in collaboration with the National Commission for Higher Education.