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Rubbish Walk by LLM Students
By Richard B Macrory, on 8 November 2013
In early November LLM students taking environmental law options took part in a walk lead by Rosie Oliver of Dotmakers Tours exploring the role of waste and rubbish in London’s historic development. Rosie is a former Government environmental lawyer, and now works with the UK Environmental Law Association as well as leading themed walks in London, many with an environmental focus. The walk began on the Isle of Dogs and ended on the bank of the Thames by Greenwich where students were able to find oyster shells and tobacco pipes thrown out over four hundred years ago and still resting on the foreshore.
European Commission Proposals on Enviromental Inspections and Surveillance
By Richard B Macrory, on 28 October 2013
In September 2013, Professor Macrory was one of the few academic specialists to be invited by the European Commission to take part in their first conference to discuss the Commission’s developing ideas for new legislation on inspections and surveillance. The meeting was held in DG Environment, Brussels. Most of the other participants were representatives of governments or enforcement authorities, including the police, in Member States.
In June 2012 The Environment Council called for improving inspections regimes as a necessary element of effective enforcement, provided this did not impose unnecessary administrative burden. The Commission launched a consultation document on the subject in February of this year.
The Commission’s proposals include greater exploitation of the potential of remote sensing (satellite imagery etc.) as an enforcement tool, an area where the centre, especially through the work of Ray Purdy, is a lead centre of excellence. The underlying principles concerning regulatory sanctions, developed by Professor Macrory, are likely to play in increasingly significant role in the proposals as they develop.
Sharon Turner appointed visiting Professor
By Richard B Macrory, on 28 October 2013
Sharon Turner has been appointed a Visiting Professor to the Law faculty, and will have a special connection with the Centre for Law and the Environment. Sharon was Professor of Environmental Law at Queens University Belfast, but in June of this year joined ClientEarth to lead their Climate and Energy Programme. As the head of Client Earth’s climate and energy team she leads a group of 13 lawyers located in offices in London, Brussels and Warsaw working on a range of law and policy reform and litigation projects spanning EU and national governance levels. Richard Macrory commented, “We are absolutely delighted that Sharon will be associated with us through this appointment. For many years she has been one of the leading UK environmental legal academics but is now bringing all her expertise and experience to a significant new role. “
New Report on Enhanced Oil Recovery Published
By Richard B Macrory, on 17 September 2013
The Centre’s Carbon Capture and Legal Programme has published a new report analysing in depth for the first time environmental and energy legislation relating to enhanced oil recovery operations (EOR) in the United Kingdom using carbon dioxide. In the current depressed emissions trading market combined with a continuing squeeze on public finances, operations that combine enhanced oil recovery with carbon capture and storage (CCS) may proved vital for securing commercial investment in CCS.
The Report examines international conventions, the 2009 EU Directive, and the regulations implementing the Directive within the United Kingdom. It is clear that recent CCS legislation, especially the EU Directive, has not been drafted with the full implications of EOR taken on board, and the Report idenfities a number of signficiant legal issues where EOR operations are combined with long-term CO2 storage.
‘Legal Status of CO2 – Enhanced Oil Recovery’ written by Professor Richard Macrory with Chiara Armeni, Chris Clarke, Sarah Doherty, Eva Van Der Marel, Ben Milligan, and Ray Purdy was commissioned by the University of Edinburgh’s Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage (SCCS) and is available on their web-site.
ENVIRONMENTAL TRIBUNAL decides over 400 Nitrate Vulnerable Zone appeals
By Richard B Macrory, on 14 August 2013
The First-tier Tribunal (Environment) was set up in 2010 but only in 2013 has it handled a signficiant work-load. Until 2012 appeals against the designation of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) by the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs were heard by a Panel appointed by the Secretary of State. In his 2011 Report, Consistency and Effectiveness – Strengthening the New Tribunal, Professor Macrory, co-director of the Centre, recommended that environmental regulatory appeals, including the designation of NVZs, should in principle be transferred to the new Tribunal, and under regulations made in 2012 (Nitrate Pollution Prevention (Amendment) Regulations 2012), NVZ appeals in England were duly transferred to the new Tribunal. In Wales, appeals are heard by Planning Inspectors whose decisions are binding on government. Designations across England and Wales take place around every 4 years, and last August the Secretary of State proposed the current designations, giving land-owners the right of appeal within 28 days.
Appeals have been heard during 2013, and according the Tribunal, there were 455 appeals in all, with 37.8% (172) allowed, and 12.75% (57) part-allowed. A small number (11) were dealt with by a Consent Order. 31.21% (142) appeals were dismissed, and the remainder were either struck out or withdrawn.
British Academy Fellowship for Centre Member
By Joanne Scott, on 9 August 2013
Centre member Professor Joanne Scott is one of the 42 UK-based academics in arts and social sciences elected to the British Academy this year. The announcement of the election can be found here.
New article on SSRN
By Joanne Scott, on 9 August 2013
Joanne Scott has posted her new article entitled ‘Extraterritoriality and Territorial Extension in EU Law’ on SSRN. The article will be published in the American Journal of Comparative Law in early 2014. This examination of the topic of extraterritoriality was motivated by the decision of the EU to include aviation in its emissions trading scheme.
Recently Published Environmental Law Articles
By Richard B Macrory, on 9 July 2013
Below is a list of recently published articles by Richard Macrory, Director of the Centre for Law and the Environment.
MACRORY (2013) Sanctions and Safeguards–the Brave New World of Regulatory Enforcement Current Legal Problems 2013; doi: 10.1093/clp/cut006 An analysis of the development of new approaches to regulatory sanctions under the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 including personal insights into the processes of legislative development
MACRORY (2013) ‘The United Kingdom’ in R Macrory J Jans and A Moreno Molina (eds) National Courts and EU Environmental Law Europa Law Publishing Considers how over the last decade or so the UK courts have handled the EU doctrines of sympathetic interpretation, direct effect and Frankovitch damages in environmental cases.
MACRORY (2013) (with V Madner and S Mayr) ‘Consistent Interpretation of EU Environmental Law’ in R Macrory J Jans and A Moreno Molina (eds) National Courts and EU Environmental Law Europa Law Publishing Critically examines the principle of consistent or sympathetic interpretation as developed by the Court of Justice of the European Union, against the background of its application by national courts in environmental cases.
Climate Change Conference in Finland
By Richard B Macrory, on 5 July 2013
Richard Macrory gave a key note presentation on the UK Climate Change Act at a conference organized by the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Law. The Climate Change Act was the first such dedicated legislation in the world, and other jurisdictions have been looking at it with interest. The conference also heard about new climate change legislation in Slovenia and France, and new energy legislation in Spain and Italy.
Government Publishes Review of Environment Agency and Natural England
By Richard B Macrory, on 5 July 2013
In June, the Government published its Triennial Reviewof the two main environmental regulators in England and Wales, the Environment Agency and Natural England. Professor Macrory was appointed by the Secretary of State to be a member of the six person Challenge group, designed to provide robust external challenges and scrutiny to the Review (see Annex H of the Review for it a terms of reference and membership.
In broad terms the Secretary of State has concluded that the Environment Agency and Natural England should be retained as two separate bodies, but with further on-going reform of their functions and ways of working. In a time of continuing restraint on public expenditure, they will need work closely together.
