Foreword to the first edition

• Author: Justice Constance Hunt
• Profession: Alberta Court of Appeal
• Pages: 15-16

When I graduated from law school in 1972, nowhere in the curriculum

could one find a course called Environmental Law. To the extent that

that subject-matter was considered at all, it was through, at most, pass-

ing reference in courses such as Municipal Law, Torts, or International

Law.

Twenty-five years later, the scene is remarkably changed. All

Canadian law schools offer at least one such course. Many offer more.

There are specialized law reports and journals, loose-leaf services,

newsletters, casebooks, and national and provincial organizations

devoted to research, education, and law reform. This flurry of activity

reflects society’s recognition of the importance of the environment. It

also reflects the fact that law is one of the tools essential to environ-

mental protection. Every day, courts and other tribunals in our coun-

try are called on to resolve disputes among parties such as

governments, agencies, business, and private citizens, each of whom

has a role to play in ensuring that our children will have a clean,

healthy, and esthetically acceptable planet on which to reside.

As a judge, I appreciate the immense contribution made by my for-

mer academic colleagues to the clarification and explanation of law and

legal systems. Academics are able to specialize in a way that most

judges cannot. Judges must resolve specific cases; academics can take

the long, wide view. I often turn to books and articles written by aca-

demic commentators to help me understand both the narrow and the

broad aspects of a case that I have to decide.

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FOREWORD

TO THE

FIRST EDITION