Final-year Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts student Irenë McGlone has won the Environmental Defence Society’s (EDS) essay prize, given out at the society’s annual conference.

The EDS’s essay competition was designed to stimulate interest in environmental law and encourage excellence in legal research and writing. Each New Zealand law school submits its best essays and Honours papers relating to environmental or resource management (RMA) law. University of Victoria Wellington student Irenë won the prize for an essay she wrote for LAWS 318: Resource Management Law.

Ms McGlone chose her topic based on her interests in law reform and the development of the law in the higher courts.

“My essay analysed the 2018 Court of Appeal decision RJ Davidson, the Court's conservative approach to applying King Salmon ‘environmental bottom lines’ to resource consents and, surveying case law, whether it was open for the Court to take another view.

“I chose to write about Davidson just a few weeks after the judgment was delivered as I found it was quite enigmatic and left the law in limbo, so I wanted to grapple with it to understand its ramifications and reasoning.”

Her highlight from the conference was not only being able to attend panels and sessions, but also being able to interact directly with people from the environmental law community.