Environmental Law

A new Planning and Environmental Court with three dedicated judges has been officially launched today in a bid to speed up complex judicial reviews. Mr Justice Richard Humphreys will preside over the court, which has been established as a specialised division within the High Court and has been warml

Newly-commenced legislation requires all public service bodies, including government departments, agencies and local authorities, to integrate biodiversity into their plans, policies and programmes. The Wildlife (Amendment) Act 2023 places a statutory duty on these public bodies to comply with the g

No prosecutions have been brought for felling or damaging protected trees in Northern Ireland since 2019 despite more than 350 complaints. A new report by the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) finds that while 369 tree protection breaches reported between 2019 and 2022, only one res

A first-of-its-kind judicial review aimed at forcing Northern Ireland's Department of Infrastructure to resume carrying out exhaust emissions tests on diesel cars has been delayed until January. The case brought by Friends of the Earth NI with support from The PILS Project was expected to return to

Environmental campaigners have lodged an appeal challenging a High Court ruling which paves the way for controversial plans to construct gas caverns under the seabed at Larne Lough. Mr Justice Michael Humphreys ruled in September that the decision to grant the marine license to the developers was a

A first-of-its-kind judicial review being heard in Northern Ireland's High Court today aims to force the Department of Infrastructure to resume carrying out exhaust emissions tests on diesel cars for the first time in nearly two decades. Hundreds of thousands of diesel cars have never received a leg

The Irish government has been urged to heed a new UN report identifying the climate crisis as "an urgent and systemic threat to children's rights globally". The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child yesterday launched its general comment on children's rights and the environment, which considers th

Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed all grounds challenging a deep-sea gas cavern development project off the coast of Co Antrim. The court found that the decision to grant the marine license to the developers was a rational one, backed up by scientific evidence. Delivering the judgmen

The Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) has recommended a series of changes to strengthen the draft environmental principles policy statement (EPPS) for Northern Ireland. The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) asked the OEP — which was established post-Brexi

Public bodies have been criticised for an "unacceptable" failure to comply with their obligations under Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) regulations. Ger Deering, the commissioner for environmental information, said his office's experience of reviewing decisions by public authorities o

Ireland has failed to fulfil its obligations under EU biodiversity conservation laws, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled. The court yesterday handed down its judgment in the case C-444/21, brought against Ireland by the European Commission with support from the German g

Exorbitant costs are preventing individuals and community groups from bringing legal challenges to safeguard the environment in England and Wales, according to NGOs. A shared report by the RSPB, the Environmental Law Foundation (ELF), and Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland sugg

A solicitor who objected to a strategic housing development in Limerick on environmental grounds has welcomed a decision by An Bord Pleanála to refuse planning permission for a second time. Limerick solicitor Michelle Hayes, president of Environmental Trust Ireland, said the proposed developm

Northern Ireland’s High Court has dismissed an application for judicial review brought by the owner of a trout hatchery who claimed that the Department of Agriculture failed in its statutory duty to conserve waterways. The court found that the respondent took extensive steps to comply with its

Northern Ireland’s High Court has denied two interlocutory applications sought by environmental campaigners challenging the development of a gas storage facility at Islandmagee. The first application was for a strike-out of various parts of the respondent’s evidence, and the second was f