Environment law update: Liability in environment law

United Kingdom

United Kingdom

Regulatory authorities

The CBI has issued a report reviewing the operation of regulators of utility sectors over the past 20 years. The sectors covered include energy, water, rail, aviation, postal services and telecommunication for which recommendations for the future role and responsibilities of regulators are set out. Among the key recommendations of the report are a call for more transparency about how regulators combine social and environmental obligations and for measures to increase business confidence in regulatory decisions through improved corporate governance. The review is entitled ‘Challenges for UK Sector Regulation’.
(CBI, November 2002)

Magistrates Courts The Magistrates Association has issued sentencing guidelines and an information pack for Magistrates aimed at helping them to deal with environment cases. The information pack provides a toolkit for the judiciary and contains case studies of a range of environment-related offences and further information for magistrates and prosecutors. Guidance on sentencing wildlife and conservation crimes was also released at the same time. DEFRA has announced that it believes the new guidance will result in increased penalties for environment offences.
(Magistrates Association, November 2002)

European Union

Environmental liability directive

Friends of the Earth has attacked the draft EU Directive on Environmental Liability. Describing it as weak and practically useless, the NGO says that some defences currently included, such as the state of knowledge and compliance with a permit, provide loopholes which considerably weaken the aims of the proposed legislation. They also criticise it for not covering economic damage, such as contamination of conventional crops with pollen from GM crops, and for only applying to biodiversity in certain protected areas and where there is serious potential harm to public health as a result of soil and sub-soil contamination.
(Friends of the Earth Press Release, 3 October 2002)

For further information please contact Paul Sheridan on +44 (0)20 7367 2186 or at [email protected]