Scotland should create an environmental court, which would allow
communities to contest government decisions on major windfarm applications
and quickly resolve issues like pollution of rivers and the wider countryside.
The new policy commitment from the Scottish Conservatives would also see a
streamlining of environmental cases which currently take too long to
progress through current court processes.
Shadow environment secretary Donald Cameron, MSP, said the move would
improve access to justice for people in rural communities, and
organisations working to safeguard Scotland’s environment.
As it stands, most environmental disputes are heard in courts with no
specific environmental expertise, and can often prove too expensive to pursue.
For example, in 2016 the John Muir Trust had to abandon an appeal in
relation to a 67-turbine windfarm after being faced with legal bills of
£500,000.
Creating a specific environmental court, the Scottish Conservatives said,
would improve efficiency, have a wider positive impact on the environment,
and create a fairer balance between those defending and launching cases.
Following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union, a replacement for
the role played in environmental cases by both the European Commission and
the EU’s Court of Justice will be required.
Under the Scottish Conservative plans, one possibility is for an
environmental court to be part of the Scottish Land Court, which already
holds some environmental jurisdictions and is used for specialist lay
members sitting with legally qualified judges.
Donald Cameron is a Tory MSP for the Highlands.
Cameron said: “Creating a one-stop shop for environmental disputes would
make life significantly easier for communities and environmental organisations.
“As it stands, when a group wants to appeal a major windfarm decision taken
by the Scottish Government, or a village wants to stop pollution of a local
river, the pathway to actually doing this is often complex, expensive and
drawn-out.
“But now we have the chance to do something to directly help such people,
and making the justice system much fairer when it comes to environmental
issues.
“We can see examples where major environmental cases have fallen because
those appealing simply can’t afford to go all the way through traditional
court routes.
“That’s unfair, denies access to justice, and has to change.
“We’re forever hearing of the challenges Brexit will pose, usually from the
SNP government.
“Well, this is an opportunity once Britain leaves the EU for Scotland to
lead the way when it comes to environmental justice.”
A spokesman for the John Muir Trust said: “We welcome new thinking on how
environmental issues are addressed in our planning and legal system. So
the idea of introducing an Environmental Court is very timely.
“However, a number of issues would need to be addressed. Court action is
very expensive so the way in which these cases were conducted would need to
address this.
“Moreover, most people do not want to take an issue to a “court” of any
kind and so a lower level, less confrontational, tribunal would be best for
addressing planning issues which involve environmental issues – a system
which would allow the quality of a planning decision to be reviewed, not
just challenge whether the planning process has been correctly followed.
“This would go a long way towards restoring public confidence in the
planning and legal systems and might also address Scotland’s non-compliance
with the Aarhus Convention, which exists to allow the public a say in
environmental decision-making.”
The Scottish Government said it is “committed to maintaining the same high
environmental standards” after leaving the EU, adding: “We are taking this
matter very seriously.
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