Academic Profile

I joined what is now the School of Law as a lecturer in 1977, coming from the University of Birmingham, where I had been conducting research into compensation for wrongful detention as a postgraduate student within the Institute of Judicial Administration. However I have always had an interest in planning and conservation law, and it is from this that my current teaching and research interests have developed.

Within the School of Law I teach Environmental Law, and have done so now for more than twenty five years as the module in Environmental Law was one of the first offered at a University in England. I also contribute to modules in other departments, including the School of Architecture, Planning, Landscape Architecture and Archaeology. I consider that this has not only enabled me to inform students about the law, but has also given me much through working with people in other academic disciplines, and enabled me to take a much broader approach to my own research.

I am a founder member of the United Kingdom Environmental Lawyers Association. I am also an Affiliate Member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation and a member of the Institute of Art and Law, and have also contributed to seminars and training programmes given by these professional organisations.

Qualifications

• M.Jur . University of Birmingham
• LL.B.(Hons) University of Birmingham

Teaching and Learning

Environmental law is a complex subject, and its application is affected by social and political factors as much as the desire to protect the environment, so in teaching this is module, I look not only at the law, but also at the policy framework in which the law operates, with the emphasis on what would happen in ‘real life’ (for example the reading for the first tutorial in this module is derived entirely from newspaper reports of real environmental incidents and issues). Students are supported by web-based learning materials, and I am always happy to help students with questions or difficulties they are experiencing in this subject.

In the School of Architecture I teach heritage and conservation law and policy as part of the MA in Conservation and Regeneration. This adopts a case-based approach to learning, with students using the law to solve ‘real life’ problems in the conservation and regeneration of the built environment. I also contribute to the teaching of postgraduate course in the department of Archaeology. As the legal protection of cultural property is my major research interest I can use not only my own research, but my knowledge of current work in the field, to bring current issues and debates into the teaching of these subjects.

I also have an interest in student pastoral matters and have acted as both Director and Deputy Director of Student Welfare within the School of Law.

The modules I teach are:

Undergraduate	Postgraduate and MA
Environmental Law (Convenor)	Conservation and Regeneration Policy Law
Land Contamination, Restoration and Revegetation	Heritage, history and identity
	Professional Practice, Law and Contracts

Research Interests

My research interests lay primarily in cultural resources law, particularly the law relating to the protection of the built historic environment. This is a surprisingly wide area in which to carry out research. For example, my recent research has included:

• the enforcement of legal protection for historically and architecturally important buildings and archaeological sites in England and the USA
• the protection of archaeological sites from ‘time crime’ (principally damage to and looting of) archaeological sites
• the role of archaeologists in England and in the USA in criminal proceedings for looting or damaging archaeological sites
• the use of law to protect the traditional commercial character of town centres and ‘downtowns’ areas from invasion by commercial ‘chain’ companies, comparing English planning controls with the use of ‘formula business ordinances’ in the USA
• the legal and ethical issues relating to the excavation, examination and display of human remains

I have also contributed to the Sentencing Guidance on Heritage Offences currently being drafted by English Heritage and the Magistrates’ Association and I represent the School of Law, as a member of the Alliance for the Reduction of Crimes against Heritage (ARCH)

Member of the Centre for the Study of Law in Society and Centre for Criminological Research.

Areas of Research Supervision

• Protection of the historic built environment
• Cultural resources protection
• Civil liability for environmental damage

Key Publications

Shelbourn, C. (2013) Burial archaeology: Reflections on the law, policy and ethics of ‘digging the dead’. Art Antiquity and Law, 59-75

Shelbourn, C. (2009) Assessing impact - impact assessment as a factor in retail development decisions in England and the United States. Journal of Planning and Environment Law, 985-999

Shelbourn, C. (2008) Chaining the Chains – The Use of ‘Formula Business Ordinances’ to protect the character of Traditional Commercial Areas in the United States. Journal Of Planning and Environment Law, 1240-1252

Shelbourn, C. (2008) Time crime - looting of archaeological resources and the criminal law in England and the United States. Criminal Law Review, 204-213

Shelbourn, C. (2007) Protecting Archaeological Resources In The United States: Some Lessons For Law And Practice In England? Art Antiquity and Law, 259-278

Shelbourn, C. (2006) Bringing The Skeletons Out Of The Closet? The Law and Human Remains In Art, Archaeology and Museum Collections. Art, Antiquity and Law 179-198

Recent Invited Papers and Keynote Lectures

2013 Vulnerability and Cultural heritage Conference, University of Leicester
Prosecuting Heritage Offences: Two Cautionary Tales

2013 Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference York
Prosecuting heritage offences: sending a clear message to offenders or entrenching existing attitudes?

2012 Theoretical Archaeology Group Conference, Liverpool
Ciminal proceedings against looters of archaeological sites in the USA: getting it right and getting it wrong

2012 Socio-Legal Studies Association Conference, Leicester
Digging the Dead, some legal and ethical issues raised by research and burial archaeology

2011 La Vie dei Mercanti/SAVE Heritage IXth International Forum, Seconda Universita di Napoli
Having heritage protection laws may not be enough: the case for education and guidance for heritage crime

Professional Activities and Recognition

Member, United Kingdom Environmental Lawyers Association
Member, Institute of Art and Law
Member, Society of Legal Scholars
Affiliate Member, Institute of Historic Building Conservation