The University of Akureyri in Iceland will be launching the world’s first programme in polar law in September.
The new master’s programme will focus on areas of international law relating to the polar regions. Study topics include; environmental law, the law of the sea, sovereignty and boundary disputes on land and sea, natural resources law, the rights of indigenous peoples in the north, self-government and land & resources claims.
The programme will be run in close cooperation with numerous other academic institutions. The universities in Torshavn (Faroe Islands), Nuuk (Greenland) and Rovaniemi (Finland) will collaborate with the University of Akureyri as well as institutions further afield in Canada, Russia and Alaska.
Polar law has become a particularly important field of law in the current climate of global warming and melting icecaps. Unresolved boundary disputes in polar seas and islands are becoming heated as potential reserves of fossil fuels are discovered.
Lawyers can enter the programme and earn a LLM degree, whilst non lawyers can graduate with a MA. The degree could lead to work in governments at local and international levels, as well as in academic instructions, non governmental organisations and corporations.
The deadline for the September intake is April 15th, 2008. For more information see www.polarlaw.is