POPULATION: THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM FOR LAWYERS

Abstract

Lawyers deal with the consequences of population as they practice law, implement policies, and theorise the law. Yet lawyers do so without reference to, or mentioning population. Instead, questions arising from the increase in global population are largely dealt with in the domains of science. As the effects of population growth begin to appear in operations of the law, this article argues there is an increasing need for lawyers to understand and grapple with issues arising from an increasing population. These issues must be addressed within the contexts of the history of population science and the mechanics of population growth, as well as an appreciation of the current issues arising from high global populations.