0
Welcome back, dear reader, to the Aarhus Blog. Is there someone special in your life? Why not give them the gift of unsolicited access to environmental information this Christmas (perhaps the greatest gift of all), and sign them up to our fortnightly Aarhus blog. No need to ask them first. We are confident they will love it.
We finish this year with a veritable sack of goodies, comprising the highlights of this year’s Aarhus Blog, a brief readout of the Aarhus Convention’s Meeting of the Parties, and some exciting editorial news.
The Mop
The Meeting of the Parties then: held in Geneva last month, and affectionately known as the Mop. To quote the UNECE:
The Meeting of the Parties is the main governing body of the Convention. It comprises all Parties to the Convention. In its meetings, other Signatories and other States as well as intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations participates as observers. The mandate of the Meeting of the Parties is to keep under continuous review the implementation of the Convention and take the necessary measures required to achieve the purposes of the Convention.
It's fair to say that this year’s Mop was something of a washout (You’re fired- other Eds), albeit a… lively one. For more detail on what went down, please check out this, this (Paywall, for those princes who can afford an ENDS subscription), and this (podcast, from 19:00).
In terms of headlines, the UK is definitely on the international rule of law’s naughty list this year, refusing to endorse the findings of the ACCC in relation to the UK’s lack of environmental consultation over Brexit. Which sets a wonderful precedent for states that are only keen on the idea of a rules-based international order when the rules don’t prevent them from doing anything they like. The UK failed to get the findings in relation to the UK struck off the agenda but, as a fudge, managed to persuade the other parties to put off their endorsement of those findings until the next Mop- in four years’ time…
There was more chaos when the EU tried to muscle a European Commission legal advisor, Giacomo Gattinara, into a vacant seat on the independent Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee. ACCC Chair Áine Ryall was having none of it, however. She wiped the floor with the EU delegates (last one, I promise) by threatening to resign, resulting in the EU’s nomination being withdrawn.
There were also grumblings about the work of special rapporteur for environmental defenders Michel Forst (bane of the UK government- see here and here), although a challenge to his re-election ultimately fell flat.
And they say that access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters are dull subjects!
Until the next Mop…
Editorial team additions
And lastly, but by no means leastly: some internal news from your humble servants at the Aarhus Blog. Such is the overwhelming demand for hard-hitting Aarhus related online content, that I am delighted to announce that our team is expanding. Finally, finally some life has been breathed into the dark, cobwebbed Aarhus Blog editors’ room in the chambers basement. As of January next year, I am delighted to announce our colleagues Margherita Cornaglia and Rebecca Sage will be joining the editorial team. Welcome!
That’s it from the Blog team, and from Aarhus 2025 (!): see you all in 2026!
This blog post was written by Alex Shattock.
----------------
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; ACCC/C/2014/100 and 101; ACCC/C/2017/150. He is currently acting on the Free Trade Agreement Communication ACCC/C/2022/194. 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).
– Margherita Cornaglia - Margherita’s public law practice often involves acting in claims raising environmental and climate change related issues. For instance, she acted as junior counsel in the judicial review of the Government’s Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3), pursued with an Aarhus costs cap, advancing novel arguments under Part 4 of the Climate Change Act. She also acted as junior counsel for community claimants in the Launders Lane litigation, challenging Havering Council’s refusal to designate Arnold’s Field as contaminated land; that claim likewise proceeded with Aarhus costs protection to secure effective participation and accountability. Beyond litigation, she has advised solicitors on the Government’s recent consultation concerning access to justice in relation to the Aarhus Convention, drawing on her broader practice representing NGOs and affected communities in environmental and climate cases.
– 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.
– Rebecca Sage - Rebecca is a junior tenant at Landmark Chambers with a growing practice in planning and environmental law. She is regularly instructed on matters engaging the Aarhus Convention, usually through the lens of judicial review. Rebecca has a developing interest in this complex and important area of the law and its implications for access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice.
