ABOUT WBNUJS

The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS) is a premier national law university established in 1999, offering courses at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. It is located in Salt Lake City, Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The seminar will be hosted by the Society for the Protection and Promotion of the Environment (SPPE) and the School of Technology, Law and Development (STLD) of NUJS.

ABOUT THE SEMINAR

The theme of the National One-Day Seminar and Paper Presentation is “Vision 2020: Understanding the interplay of air pollution with people and policy.” This is in light of recent reports of toxic air levels in parts of the country which pose serious health hazards to the public. The seminar is an attempt to understand how such ‘gas chambers’ occur while engaging in discourse on both short terms as well as long term legal solutions to address this crisis. The seminar will be held on March 14, 2020.

Some guiding (but certainly not exhaustive) questions for those attending the seminar are as follows:

• Is India meeting its international obligations with respect to air pollution standards?
• How does the present regime of law and legal policy address air pollution in India?
• What is the relationship between the Centre and State Governments in addressing air pollution, and is it adequate? If inadequate, then how can it be improved?
• What lapses in the judicial framework, if any, hamper efforts in averting or responding quickly to air pollution crisis?
• Are there any particular sections of society which are disproportionately affected by air pollution crises and hence must be identified as key stakeholders when developing legal policy?
• Which are the particular industries which contribute excessively to air pollution, and how can the regulations governing them be improved to make them more sensitive towards environmental concerns?

The themes of discussion seek to explore a broad set of laws, policy and governance issues related to air pollution. Discourse is expected to take place with reference to the situation of air quality prevailing across the country, but Kolkata-specific discourse will also be appreciated.

ELIGIBILITY

Participation, papers and presentations are invited from:

• Undergraduate and postgraduate students from institutes of law or related disciplines who have a keen interest in courses relating to environmental studies.
• Academicians, researchers, and policy fellows in the field of environmental law or environmental studies.
• Advocates/Legal Practitioners working in the field of environmental law.
• Stakeholders from the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary engaged in environmental management, policy-framing and adjudication.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Short but well-researched papers of a minimum of 2500 words in the aforementioned theme are invited from all those who are eligible to attend the conference. There is no maximum word limit. The paper must also have an abstract of a minimum of 50 words highlighting the key issues and possible solutions identified in the paper.

The authors of the papers which have been shortlisted for presentation in the seminar will be duly intimated of the same. Registration fee of Rs. 400/- (not covering travel or accommodation) will be paid only by the final list of invited authors, who will receive the details of payment upon acceptance of their papers. Co-authorship is allowed for up to two authors, and the registration fee will remain Rs. 400/- for the co-authors together.

 Important details

All papers shall be sent via e-mail to sppe@nujs.edu in a single MS Word document. The paper must have a title page which clearly conveys:

• The name of the author(s)
• The designation of the author(s)
• Phone number and e-mail address of the author(s)

The NUJS Law Review citation standard is advised to be followed. However, any other uniform citation standard may be used and the same must be intimated in the submission mail. Interdisciplinary work is permitted, but the focus must be on law and/or legal policy.

IMPORTANT DATES

• Last date of submission of abstract: March 5, 2020
• Notification of acceptance: March 6, 2020
• Last date of submission of the paper: March 10, 2020
• Payment of Registration fee of Rs. 400/- for accepted papers: March 10, 2020 (in special cases depending upon circumstances, the organizers may allow on-the-spot payment of registration fees on the day of the seminar from the selected participants)
• Seminar: March 14, 2020

Participants are required to make their own arrangements for travel, local conveyance and accommodation. For those who wish to attend the seminar but will not be partaking in the paper presentation, on the spot registration will take place free of cost. A certificate of participation will be provided for all those who attend the seminar in full.

CONTACT INFO

Kamil (Director, SPPE): +91 9836542242

Shreedhara (Secretary, SPPE): + 91 8763693508

Anuja (Member, SPPE): + 91 9870071472

Isana (Member, SPPE): +91 9880759870