Glossary

Latin for ‘a guilty act’; the physical or external element(s) that need to be proved for the accused to be found guilty of criminal offence; usually some form of conduct (act or omission), circumstance in which the conduct occurred, or the result of the conduct. See also mens rea.

The process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects (IPCC, Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability).

A form of conditional liberty; person arrested for a criminal offence may be released from custody on the condition that they undertake to appear in court at a specified future time and potentially subject to other conditions.

Breaking the law with the aim of persuading the authorities to change the law or government policy; the ‘civility’ of such law-breaking is usually seen as requiring that it be done in public, in good conscience, with a preparedness to be arrested, and without violence.

Cases where climate change is a central issue in the dispute, climate change is raised as a peripheral issue, climate change is one motivation behind the case, or where the case has implications for mitigation or adaptation (Jacqueline Peel and Hari Osofsky, Climate Change Litigation: Regulatory Pathways to Cleaner Energy, Cambridge University Press, 2015, p. 8).

‘unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts’ (Independent Expert Panel for the Legal Definition of Ecocide).

A statutory defence to a criminal charge, whereby an accused person is not guilty if they reasonably believe that ‘circumstances of sudden or extraordinary emergency exists, committing the offence is the only reasonable way to deal with the emergency, and the conduct is a reasonable response to the emergency’ (Commonwealth Criminal Code 1995, s 10.3); the wording of the defence differs across the jurisdictions; based upon the common law defence of necessity, which still applies in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.

Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere.

The United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change.

Examination by a court of the legality (rather than the substantive merits) of an administrative decision.

Changing laws, or law reform, involves processes and practices that might involve government institutions and non-government agencies, protests, court decisions and elections.

The negative impacts of climate change that occur despite, or in the absence of, mitigation and adaptation.

An order issued by a superior court compelling a body exercising public authority to fulfil a public duty that remains unperformed.

Latin for ‘a guilty mind’; the state(s) of mind or fault element(s) that need to be proved for the accused to be found guilty of criminal offence, i.e. intention, knowledge, recklessness, dishonesty. See also actus reus.

Review of the correctness of an administrative decision, taking into account issues of law, fact, policy and discretion. Merits review is generally undertaken by an administrative tribunal rather than a court.

A human intervention to reduce emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases (IPCC, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change).

The 11 law subjects required to be successfully completed for candidate status for admission into practice as a legal practitioner in Australia.

‘Direct GHG emissions occur from sources that are owned or controlled by the company, for example, emissions from combustion in owned or controlled boilers, furnaces, vehicles, etc.; emissions from chemical production in owned or controlled process equipment’ (The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, 2004).

‘GHG emissions from the generation of purchased electricity … Scope 2 emissions physically occur at the facility where electricity is generated’ (The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, 2004).

‘Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of the activities of the company, but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the company. Some examples of scope 3 activities are extraction and production of purchased materials; transportation of purchased fuels; and use of sold products and services’ (The Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard, 2004).

The division of government responsibilities between the legislature, which makes the law, the executive, which administers and enforces the law, and the judiciary, which interprets and adjudicates disputes about the law.

Any process, activity or mechanism which removes a greenhouse gas … from the atmosphere (IPCC, Climate Change 2022: Mitigation of Climate Change).