KDEC 9590 - Corporate Environmental Liability:Regulation,Litigation&Corporate Accountability in the Global Econ.

This course explores how the law seeks to hold corporations accountable for environmental harm through a range of legal tools, from preventive sustainability due diligence and disclosure obligations to civil and criminal liability. By examining legal scholarship, legislation, and strategic litigation across jurisdictions, students will analyse how corporate environmental accountability is transforming the relationship between business and environmental protection, while critically assessing the strengths and limitations of these emerging legal developments.

No specific prior knowledge is required. The course is open to students from different disciplinary backgrounds with an interest in environmental governance, corporate accountability and transnational regulation. Students are expected to complete the assigned readings before each session and actively participate in class discussions.

The course alternates between lecture-based sessions introducing key concepts and discussion-based seminars centred on assigned readings and case law.

This course adopts a Level 1 integration of Generative AI. Students may use Generative AI for brainstorming, generating ideas, identifying relevant sources, and supporting preliminary research. However, all substantive legal analysis, argumentation, and written work submitted for assessment must reflect the students' own work.

Seminar participation and group discussion 50%

Students are expected to complete the assigned readings before each session and actively contribute to class discussions. Throughout the semester, students will work in small groups to prepare and facilitate seminar discussions on the assigned materials and fostering critical debate among their peers.

Final examination (in class) 50%

The final assessment will consist of an individual, in-class examination requiring students to critically analyse a contemporary issue related to corporate environmental accountability through a comparative legal perspective.