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Welcome, Dear Reader, back to the Aarhus Blog - the only legal blog that is an anagram of “Ah! Glabrous?”- surely no coincidence.
This week we are doing a mid-year-ish retrospective of the Aarhus case law that has graced our screens in recent times- also no coincidence, the subject of my recent UKELA Conference talk which you can view here at your leisure. Extra points if you spot the moment when I almost pass out from heatstroke.
It was a crowded field, no doubt about it, but here are my top 7 recent Aarhus cases:
NUMBER 7. Cross v Information Commissioner [2025] UKFTT 0073 (GRC), 2025 WL
National security collides with environmental transparency. Who will win? Perhaps not the most thrilling cliffhanger, but a useful analysis of the applicable principles nonetheless.
NUMBER 6. R (Amalgamated Smart Metering Ltd) v Rotherham MBC [2025] EWHC 97 (Admin)
Not even the unification of the warring smart meter tribes under one banner could persuade the court that the Aarhus convention required an extension of the usual 6 week time limit for judicial review.
NUMBER 5. Whyte v Plymouth CC [2024] 2854 (Admin)
The Aarhus cost cap can apply to contempt proceedings! Certainly open to question following Global Feedback (see further below).
NUMBER 4. Lucas Amin v Information Commissioner and Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities [2025] UKFTT 00221 (GRC)
A follow on from Friends of the Earth Limited v Secretary of State for Levelling up, Housing and Communities [2023] EWHC 3255 (KB) (the West Cumbria mining case- blogs passim) in which Sir Duncan Ouseley refused the Claimant’s application for specific disclosure of policy advice given to the Secretary of State in a Ministerial Submission regarding the Cumbria Coal Mine, an application which editors of this blog were on both sides of. The claimant here succeeded in getting disclosure, but that is now pending an appeal to the CoA.
NUMBER 3. Shell UK Ltd v Persons Unknown [2024] EWHC 3130 (KB)
A respectful and detailed treatment of Aarhus in the context of injunction proceedings, but possibly open to question following Hallam (see below).
NUMBER 2. Hallam and ors v R [2025] EWCA Crim 199
Aarhus in the Court of Appeal? And not for the only time this year?? An exciting proposition, but sadly, Aarhus was given short shrift as a sentencing consideration in this criminal case about the M25 protesters.
NUMBER 1. HM Treasury v Global Feedback Ltd [2025] EWCA Civ 624
Court of Appeal again, and this one is an Aarhus bonanza. Global Feedback is highly likely to be this blog’s case of the year, and is well worth a close read.
It was a disappointing result for claimants, though: the Court restricted the kind of cases that benefit from environmental costs protection. A breach of pure public law is now firmly outside the tent.
We think this decision might be subject to an appeal, but in any event, more litigation will surely follow, particularly with classic planning challenges that rely solely on public law errors.
Expect more dubious environmental assessment grounds of challenge to be the outcome, just to keep the claim within costs protection territory…
So there you have it, Dear Reader: my top 7 recent Aarhus cases- and we aren’t even past July.
What Aarhus related developments will the future hold? We’ll just have to wait and see! Same time, same channel.
This blog post was written by Alex Shattock.
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Authors of the Aarhus blogs
– James Maurici KC – James has been in many of the leading cases on Aarhus costs including: R (RSPB) v SSJ [2017] 5 Costs L.O. 691; Case C 530/11 Commission v United Kingdom; Case C-260/11 Edwards v EA; R (Edwards) v EA (No.2) [2011] 1 Costs L.R. 70 and [2013] UKSC 78; and R (Edwards) v EA [2011] 1 W.L.R. 79. He has also appeared a number of times before the UNECE Aarhus Compliance Committee in Geneva, cases include: ACCC/C/2010/45; ACCC/C/2010/53; ACCC/C/2011/60; ACCC/C/2011/61; ACCC/C/2012/77; and ACCC/C/2014/100 and 101. He is currently acting for the UK Government on the Brexit communication to the Compliance Committee – ACCC/C/2017/150. He was one of the contributors to the Aarhus Convention: A Guide for UK Lawyers (2015) and he has written and lectured extensively on the Aarhus Convention.
– Jacqueline Lean – Jacqueline has also been instructed on a number of matters concerning the Aarhus Convention, including appearing (with James Maurici KC) for United Kingdom before the Aarhus Compliance Committee on two communications concerning the Government’s decision to proceed with HS2 (ACCC/C/100 & 101); representing the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Secretary of State in R (CPRE Kent) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2019] EWCA Civ 1230 in which the Court of Appeal considered the approach to summary assessment of costs at permission stage when an Aarhus costs cap applied; and acting for the Secretary of State in R (RSPB) v Secretary of State for Justice [2018] Env LR 13, a challenge to the Government’s amendments to the Aarhus costs protections in the CPR (also with James Maurici KC). She is also a contributing author to Coppel’s ‘Information Rights’ on Environmental Information.
– Nick Grant – Nick joined Chambers in 2019 and has regularly advised on Aarhus related matters. He has represented the UK twice before the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee, appearing with James Maurici KC in ACCC/C/2017/150 (the Withdrawal Act case) and unled in the admissibility hearing for ACCC/C/2022/194 (the free trade agreements case).
– Alex Shattock – Alex has been involved in a number of environmental claims including Friends of the Earth v SSLUHC (the Cumbria coal mine case: acting for Friends of the Earth in the Planning Inquiry and High Court, with Paul Brown KC and Toby Fisher); Cox and Ors v Oil and Gas Authority [2022] EWHC 75 (Admin) (representing Extinction Rebellion activists in a challenge to the Oil and Gas Authority’s Strategy, with David Wolfe KC and Merrow Golden); R (Hough) v SSHD [2022] EWHC 1635 (acting for the claimant in an environmental and equalities challenge to the controversial use of Napier Barracks as asylum seeker accommodation, with Alex Goodman KC and Charles Bishop). He regularly advises individual and NGO clients on Aarhus costs protection. Alex also has a keen interest in treaty law generally. He has a masters and PhD in public international law and has been involved in various treaty negotiations and treaty ratification processes.
