Liz Fisher
Professor of Environmental Law
Biography
Liz Fisher, BA/LLB (UNSW), D Phil (Oxon) is Professor of Environmental Law at the Faculty of Law Corpus Christi College. Her research explores the mental constructs lawyers and legal scholars use to legally reason, particularly in relation public administration and environmental problems. Her work is grounded in national common law jurisdictions.
Elizabeth Fisher and Sidney Shapiro, Administrative Competence: Reimagining Administrative Law (CUP 2020) was jointly awarded the American Bar Association Administrative Law Section's Scholarship Award 2021. Her 2007 book, Risk Regulation and Administrative Constitutionalism, won the SLS Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship 2008. Other publications include Environmental Law: A Very Short Introduction (OUP 2017) and Fisher, Lange and Scotford, Environmental Law: Text, Cases and Materials (2nd ed, OUP 2019).
Two recent edited publications include Elizabeth Fisher, Jeff King, and Alison L Young (Des), The Foundations and Future of Public Law (OUP 2020) and Elizabeth Fisher and Brian Preston (eds) An Environmental Court in Action: Function, Doctrine and Process (Hart 2022). Fisher is also General Editor of the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies and and served as General Editor of the Journal of Environmental Law for a decade from 2012 to 2022.
Fisher is an Overseas Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law. She has won teaching awards, and served as Vice Dean of the Law Faculty 2013-6, HT 2019, and TT 2021 (the last being Vice Dean (Personnel)). She was awarded a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship for 2022-25 for a project exploring legal imagination and environmental law.
Publications
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Storytelling, Rulemaking, and the Expertise of Administrative Agencies’
FISHER E, ‘Telling Meaningful Stories About Climate Change and Public Law’ [2024] Journal of Environmental Law
Fisher E, ‘Public Law, the Levels of the Law, and Environmental Problems’ [2024] ANUARIO DE DERECHO PÚBLICO 2023 UNIVERSIDAD DIEGO PORTALES
FISHER E, ‘Why Doctrinal Administrative Lawyers Need to Think More About Policy’ [2023] Australian Journal of Administrative Law
FISHER E, ‘Going Backward, Looking Forward: An Essay on How to Think About Law Reform in Ecologically Precarious Times’ [2022] (30) New Zealand Universities Law Review 111
BELL J and FISHER E, ‘Climate Change Legislation and Administrative Law Adjudication in the UK Supreme Court’ [2022] The Modern Law Review
Fisher E, ‘PREFACE’ [2022] An Environmental Court in Action: Function, Doctrine and Process ix
BELL J and FISHER E, ‘Exploring a Year of Administrative Law Adjudication in the Administrative Court’ [2021] Public Law
FISHER L and Shapiro S, ‘Disagreement About Chevron: Is Administrative Law The Law of Public Administration ?’ (2021) 70 DLJ Online 111
Fisher L, ‘Thinking Collectively: Law and Scholarship in Precarious Times’ (2020) 32(3) Journal of Environmental Law 339
Bell J and Fisher L, ‘The ’Heathrow’ Case: Polycentricity, Legislation, and the Standard of Review’ (2020) 83(83) Modern Law Review early
Fisher L, ‘Challenges for the EU Climate Change Regime’ (2020) 21(1) German Law Journal 5
FISHER E, ‘Executive Environmental Law’ [2019] Modern Law Review
Fisher L, ‘Tanya Josev, The Campaign Against the Courts: A History of the Judicial Activism Debate’ (2019) 59(1) American Journal of Legal History 145
Wagner W, Fisher E and Pascual P, ‘Whose science? A new era in regulatory "science wars".’ (2018) 362(6415) Science (New York, N.Y.) 636
Fisher E, ‘Law and Energy Transitions: Wind Turbines and Planning Law in the UK’ [2018] Oxford Journal of Legal Studies
Fisher L, ‘Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right. By ARLIE RUSSELL HOCHSCHILD and The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins. By ANNA LOWENHAUPT TSING’ (2017) 29(2) Journal of Environmental Law 383
Fisher E, Scotford E and Barritt E, ‘The Legally Disruptive Nature of Climate Change’ [2017] The Modern Law Review
Fisher E, ‘Towards Environmental Constitutionalism: A Different Vision of the Resource Management Act 1991’ [2017] Resource Management Theory and Practice
Fisher E and Scotford E, ‘Climate Change Adjudication: The Need to Foster Legal Capacity: an editorial comment’ (2016) 28(1) Journal of Environmental Law 1
Fisher E, Pascual P and Wagner W, ‘Rethinking judicial review of expert agencies’ (2015) 93(7) Texas Law Review 1681
Fisher E, ‘Chemicals as Regulatory Objects’ (2014) 23(2) Review of European, Comparative and International Environmental Law 163
Fisher E, ‘Environmental Law as ‘Hot’ Law’ (2013) 25(3) Journal of Environmental Law 347
Fisher E, ‘Climate Change Litigation, Obsession and Expertise: Reflecting on the Scholarly Response to Massachusetts v. EPA’ (2013) 35(3) Law & Policy 236
Fisher E, ‘Framing Risk Regulation : A Critical Reflection’ (2013) 4(2) European Journal of Risk Regulation 125
Fisher E, ‘Framing risk regulation: A critical reflection’ (2013) 4(2) European Journal of Risk Regulation 125
Shapiro S and Fisher L, ‘Chevron and the Legitmacy of Public Administration’ (2013) 22(2) William and Mary Bill of Rights Law Journal 465
Pascual P, Wagner W and Fisher E, ‘Making Method Visible: Improving the Quality of Science-Based Regulation’ [2013] (2.2) Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law 429
Shapiro S, Fisher E and Wagner W, ‘The Enlightenment of Administrative Law: Looking inside the Agency for Legitimacy’ (2012) 47(3) Wake Forest Law Review
Fisher E, ‘The Rise of Transnational Environmental Law and the Expertise of Environmental Lawyers’ (2012) 1(1) Transnational Environmental Law 43
Fisher L, ‘Enforcing Pollution Control Regulation: Strengthening Sanctions and Improving Deterrence by Carolyn Abbot’ (2011) 74(1) Modern Law Review 156
Wagner W, Fisher E and Pascual P, ‘Misunderstanding Models in Environmental and Public Health Regulation’ (2010) 18 NYU Environmental Law Journal
Fisher E, ‘Transparency and Administrative Law: A Critical Evaluation’ (2010) 63(1) Current Legal Problems 272
Fisher E, Pascual P and Wagner W, ‘Understanding Environmental Models in Their Legal and Regulatory Context’ (2010) 22(2) Journal of Environmental Law 251
Fisher E, ‘Food safety crises as crises in administrative constitutionalism.’ (2010) 20(1) Health Matrix (Cleveland, Ohio : 1991) 55
Fisher L, ‘Environmental Law, Policy and Economics: Reclaiming the Environmental Agenda. By NICHOLAS ASHFORD and CHARLES CALDART’ (2009) 21(2) Journal of Environmental Law 380
Fisher E and others, ‘Maturity and Methodology: Starting a Debate about Environmental Law Scholarship†’ (2009) 21(2) Journal of Environmental Law 213
Fisher L, ‘Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Approaches from the Nordic Countries, EU and USA. Edited by NICOLAS DE SADELEER’ (2008) 20(1) Journal of Environmental Law 151
Fisher L, ‘Laws of Fear: Beyond the Precautionary Principle’ (2006) 69(2) Modern Law Review 288
Fisher L, ‘Law, Precaution and Principles of Good Administration’ (2005) 52(6) Water Science and Technology 19
Fisher E, ‘The European Union in the Age of Accountability’ (2004) 24(3) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 495
Fisher L, ‘The Rise of the Risk Commonwealth and the Challenge for Administrative Law’ (2003) 2003(Autumn) Public Law 455
Fisher E, ‘Book Review: Evolution and Status of the Precautionary Principle in International Law’ (2002) 4(4) Environmental Law Review 275
Fisher L, ‘Precaution, Precaution Everywhere: Developing a ’Common Understanding’ of the Precautionary Principle in the European Community’ (2002) 9 Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law 21
Fisher E, ‘Unpacking the Toolbox: Or Why the Public/Private Divide is Important In EC Environmental Law’
Fisher E, ‘Risk Regulation and the Rule of Law: Searching for ‘Intelligible Principles’ in the Administrative State’ (2001) 3(2) Environmental Law Review 139
Fisher E, ‘Is the Precautionary Principle Justiciable?’ (2001) 13(3) Journal of Environmental Law 315
Fisher L and others, ‘Substantive Precautionary Decision-Making: The Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s ’Lawful Pursuit’ of the Precautionary Principle’ (2001) 7 Australasian Journal of Natural Resources Law and Policy 40
Fisher L and Schmidt, ‘Seeing the ’Blind Spots’ in Administrative Law: Theory, Practice, and Rulemaking Settlements in the United States’ (2001) 30 Common Law World Review 272
Fisher E, ‘Drowning by Numbers: Standard Setting in Risk Regulation and the Pursuit of Accountable Public Administration’ (2000) 20(1) Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 109
FISHER E, ‘’Environmental Law, Scholarship, and Epistemic Responsibility’ Journal of Environmental Law
FISHER E, ‘Climate Change and Statutory Construction: Administrative Law Expertise and ‘New’ Emergencies’ Edinburgh Law Review: An International Forum for the Discussion of Law
BELL J, DAVIES A and FISHER E, ‘Tailored Judicial Review Doctrine, Tailoring Judicial Review Doctrine’ Public Law: The Constitutional and Administrative Law of the Commonwealth
Fisher E and Shapiro S, Administrative Competence: Reimagining Administrative Law (2021)
Fisher E, Environmental Law Text, Cases and Materials (Oxford University Press, USA 2019)
FISHER E, LANGE B and Scotford E, Environmental Law: Text, Cases and Materials (Oxford University Press 2019)
Fisher L, Risk Regulation and Administrative Constitutionalism (Hart Publishing 2007) 318
Fisher E, Jones J and von Schomberg R, Preface (2006)
Fisher E, ‘Paying legal attention to specialist tribunals’, Administrative Tribunals in the Common Law World (2024)
FISHER E, ‘Paying Legal Attention to Specialist Tribunals’ in S Thomson, M Groves and G Weeks (eds.), Administrative Tribunals in the Common Law World (Bloomsbury Publishing 2024)
FISHER E, ‘EU Environmental Law and the Importance of Active Legal Work’, The Pursuit of Legal Harmony in a Turbulent Europe Essays in Honour of Eleanor Sharpston (Hart Publishing 2024)
Fisher E, ‘EU Environmental Law and the Importance of Active Legal Work’, Pursuit of Legal Harmony in a Turbulent Europe: Essays in Honour of Eleanor Sharpston (2024)
Fisher E, ‘In Praise of Legal Parochialism: On Why I Read the Decisions of Specialist Courts’, ENDURING COURTS IN CHANGING TIMES Celebrating the 2024 Bicentenaries of the Supreme Courts of New South Wales and Tasmania (AAL 2024)
Fisher E, ‘Imagining method in administrative law scholarship’, A Research Agenda for Administrative Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2023)
BELL J and FISHER E, ‘Judicial Review of ’Fact Work’: Beyond the Law/Fact Distinction’, Facts in Public Law Adjudication (2023)
Fisher E, ‘Environmental impact assessment: ’setting the law ablaze’’, Research Handbook on Fundamental Concepts of Environmental Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2022)
Fisher L, ‘Administrative Tribunals: An Essay about the Legal Imagination of Administrative Law Scholars’ in J Goudkamp, M Lunney and L McDonald (eds.), Taking Law Seriously Essays in Honour of Peter Cane (Bloomsbury 2022)
Fisher L, ‘The Administrative Law Expertise of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales’ in E Fisher and B Preston (eds.), An Environmental Court in Action: Function, Doctrine and Process (Bloomsbury 2022)
Fisher L, ‘Afterword: Law in Unexpected Places’ in E Fisher and B Preston (eds.), An Environmental Court in Action: Function, Doctrine and Process (Bloomsbury 2022)
Fisher E, ‘EU Environmental Law and Legal Imagination’, The Evolution of EU Law (Oxford University Press (OUP) 2021)
Fisher L, ‘Legal Imagination and Teaching’ in L Rajamani and J Peel (eds.), Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law (OUP 2021)
Fisher L, ‘Through ’Thick’ and ’Thin’: Comparison in Administrative Law and Regulatory Studies Scholarship’ in P Cane and O and (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Administrative Law (OUP 2020)
Craig P, ‘Six Dimensions of Public Law: Pressure-Testing the UK and EU Systems’ in E Fisher, J King and A Young (eds.), The Foundations and Future of Public Law (Oxford University Press 2020)
Fisher L, ‘The Open Road?: Navigating Public Administration and the Failed Promise of Administrative Law’ in E Fisher, J King and A Young (eds.), The Foundations and Future of Public Law: Essays in Honour of Paul Craig (OUP 2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Debating Administrative Competence From the Spoils System to the New Deal’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Confronting the Origin Myths of Administrative Law’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Administrative Competence and the <i>Chevron</i> Doctrine’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Administrative Accountability’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Enlightened Foundations’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Toward an Enlightened Administrative Law Conclusion’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘The State We Are In’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘The Narrowing of the Administrative Law Imagination’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘The Law of Public Administration’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘The Emergence of Administrative Law and the Limits of Legal Imagination’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Making Administrative Competence Visible’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Hard Look Review’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher E and Shapiro S, ‘Expert Administrative Capacity’, ADMINISTRATIVE COMPETENCE (2020)
Fisher L, ‘Sciences, Environmental Laws, and Legal Cultures: Fostering Collective Epistemic Responsibility’ in E Lees and J Viñuales (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Comparative Environmental Law (OUP 2019)
Fisher E, ‘Back to Basics: Thinking About the Craft of Environmental Law Scholarship’, Perspectives on Environmental Law Scholarship (Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2018)
Fisher L, ‘Expert Executive Power, Administrative Constitutionalism and Co-Production: Why They Matter’ in M Weimer and A de Ruijter (eds.), Regulating Risks in the European Union The Co-production of Expert and Executive Power (Hart 2017)
Fisher L, ‘Imagining Technology and Environmental Law’ in R Brownsword, E Scotford and K Yeung (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Law, Regulation and Technology (OUP 2017)
Fisher L, ‘Blazing Upstream? Strategic Environmental Assessment as ’Hot’ Law’ in G Jones and E Scotford (eds.), The Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive: A Plan for Success (Hart 2017)
Fisher E, ‘Environmental impact assessment: ’setting the law ablaze’’, Research Handbook on Fundamental Concepts of Environmental Law (2016)
Fisher L, ‘Making Sense of the WTO Sanitary and Phytosantiary Agreement: An Essay About Scholarly Expertise’ in B Lange, F Haines and D Thomas (eds.), Regulatory Transformations: Rethinking Economy-Society Interactions (Hart 2015)
Fisher E, ‘Exploring the legal architecture of transparency the legal architecture of t’, Research Handbook on Transparency (2014)
Fisher E, ‘Exploring the legal architecture of transparency’, RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON TRANSPARENCY (2014)
Fisher E, ‘Risk And Governance’ (Oxford University Press 2012)
Fisher L, ‘Risk Regulatory Concepts and the Law’ in OECD (ed.), Risk and Regulatory Policy: Improving the Governance of Risk (OECD 2010)
Fisher E, ‘Opening Pandora’s box: Contextualising the precautionary principle in the European Union’, Uncertain Risks Regulated (2009)
Fisher L, ‘Administrative Law, Pluralism and the Legal Construction of Merits Review in Australian Environmental Courts and Tribunals’ in L Pearson, C Harlow and M Taggart (eds.), Administrative Law in a Changing State: Essays in Honour of Mark Aronson (2008)
Fisher E and Harding R, ‘The precautionary principle and administrative constitutionalism: The development of frameworks for applying the precautionary principle’, Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Perspectives and Prospects (2006)
Fisher E, Jones J and von Schomberg R, ‘Implementing the precautionary principle: Perspectives and prospects’, Implementing the Precautionary Principle: Perspectives and Prospects (2006)
Fisher L, ‘Risk and Environmental Law: A Beginner’s Guide’ in B Richardson and S Wood (eds.), Environmental Law for Sustainability (Hart Publishing 2006)
Fisher E, ‘Beyond the Science/Democracy Dichotomy: The World Trade Organisation Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement and Administrative Constitutionalism’, Constitutionalism, Multilevel Trade Governance and Social Regulation (Bloomsbury Academic 2006)
Fisher L and Harding R, ‘The Precautionary Principle in Australia: From Aspiration to Practice?’ in T O’Riordan, J Cameron and A Jordan (eds.), Reinterpreting the Precautionary Principle (Cameron May Publishing 2001)
Fisher E and Preston B, An Environmental Court in Action: Function, Doctrine and Process (2022) 1
Fisher L, King J and Young A, The Foundations and Future of Public Law: Essays in Honour of Paul Craig (OUP 2020)
Fisher E, Jones J and von Schomberg R, Implementing the precautionary principle: Perspectives and prospects (2006)
Fisher E, ‘Blazing Upstream? Strategic Environmental Assessment as ‘Hot’ Law’ (2017)
Fisher E, ‘The ‘perfect storm’ of REACH: charting regulatory controversy in the age of information, sustainable development, and globalization’, Journal of Risk Research (Taylor & Francis 2008)
Fisher E, ‘Unearthing the relationship between environmental law and populism’ (2019) 31(3) Journal of Environmental Law 383 (review)
Fisher E, ‘The Enigma of Expertise’ [2016] Journal of Environmental Law (review)
Fisher E, ‘’Jurisdictional’ facts and ’hot’ facts: Legal formalism, legal pluralism, and the nature of Australian administrative law’ (2015) 38(3) Melbourne University Law Review 968 (review)
Fisher E, ‘Unpacking the Toolbox: Or Why the Public/Private Divide is Important in EC Environmental Law’