Under existing rules derived from the 2005 Aarhus convention, losing claimants face capped adverse legal costs of £5,000 for individuals and £10,000 for organisations. The proposed adjustments would eliminate or sharply increase these caps, potentially seizing up to 70% of crowdfunded legal war chests if a challenge fails. Environmental groups like ClientEarth and Friends of the Earth caution that this will silence opposition to major roads, data centres, and intensive livestock units. Although ministers insist they will not abandon the international treaty entirely, experts argue the planned alterations represent severe non-compliance.
Key points
The UK government is pursuing policy changes that significantly weaken legal cost protect…: The UK government is pursuing policy changes that significantly weaken legal cost protections for environmental court challenges.
Stricter litigation rules are designed to prevent local planning challenges from obstruct…: Stricter litigation rules are designed to prevent local planning challenges from obstructing major infrastructure and economic development projects.
Legal professionals assert the proposals will undermine public interest litigation and br…: Legal professionals assert the proposals will undermine public interest litigation and breach international obligations under the Aarhus convention.
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The government is considering stripping back legal protections that limit the costs community groups face when challenging planning decisions that threaten nature.
The Aarhus convention, an environmental treaty that was signed into law by the UK in 2005, guarantees the legal right to participate in democratic processes on environmental matters – such as sewage pollution, new roads or datacentre developments.
Under the treaty, when an individual brings an environmental legal claim, they are protected by a cost cap that means they only pay £5,000 of the other side’s costs if they lose. For organisations, the cost cap protection is £10,000.
The purpose of this is to ensure legal challenges about the environment are not prohibitively expensive for individuals and public interest groups.
According too environmental lawyers, the Ministry of Justice has been holding private meetings with “select” stakeholders on plans to remove these cost cap protections and distance the UK from the convention.
Other possible changes include doubling cost caps at each stage of a challenge and removing the costs protection where a court finds a “misuse of judicial review”.
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