Precautionary principle meaning

Background on the case The Arbitration Tribunal constituted under the EU–UK TCA issued its definitive decision on the EU–UK sandeel dispute on 2 May 2025. The clash arose after the UK introduced a prohibition on catching sandeels within its North Sea waters to protect the marine environment, while the EU argued that such conservation steps would unfairly and disproportionately harm fishing communities in the EU. This marks the first dispute referred to the Arbitration Tribunal pursuant to the TCA. Consequently, the matter sheds light on how the TCA should be applied, particularly regarding what counts as the best scientific advice and how the principle of proportionality operates. In the end, whilst underlining the procedural need to have due regard to proportionality, the tribunal upheld the ban and concluded that, in substance, the UK’s fisheries management approach was robust. In reaching that view, the panel stressed process while confirming the substance of the UK’s fisheries policy choices as sound. What did the tribunal decide The initial issue for...

Challenge to Order made under section 62(1) of the Medicines Act 1968 dismissed (R(Transactual & Anther) v SoS Health and Social Care) R (on the application of Transactual CIC and another) v Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and another [2024] EWHC 1936 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? Apart from the immediate ramifications for those subject to the Order, the ruling exemplifies the hurdles confronting both individuals and corporate bodies who seek to judicially review decisions in the medical-legal arena. Even with heightened scrutiny, and acceptance that the statutory wording sets a stringent bar—the Minister must reasonably determine an urgent order is ‘essential’—the imperative of protecting health warrants a ‘low tolerance of risk’. Mrs Justice Lang stressed that Parliament has entrusted Ministers with a significant power, to be exercised through their discretionary judgment. That task called for an intricate, multi-factor, predictive evaluation, involving the use of clinical expertise and the balancing of competing hazards and harms (see [183], [228]). The outcome...

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer 1987. Protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer 1985 (1985 Vienna Convention) Parties: Universally ratified—the first United Nations (UN) treaty to achieve global application. Location: Montreal, Canada. In force: 1 January 1989. Subject: safeguarding the ozone layer. Revisions Adjustments: 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007 and 2018 Amendments: London 1990, Copenhagen 1992, Montreal 1997, Beijing 1999 and Kigali 2016 What is the Montreal Protocol? The Montreal Protocol operates under the 1985 Vienna Convention, a framework agreement, and is designed to: limit actions that are liable to harm the ozone layer promote cooperation in collecting and sharing information on how human activities affect the ozone layer It establishes a clear schedule to phase out and ultimately eliminate the manufacture and use of substances that deplete the ozone layer...

The EU glossary brings together and clarifies terms regularly used in EU law. Blue economy The European Union’s blue economy covers all activities and sectors linked to oceans, seas and coastlines, whether operating directly in the marine environment (eg shipping, seafood, energy production) or on land (eg ports, shipyards, coastal infrastructures). Circular Economy Action Plan In March 2020, under the European Green Deal, the European Commission adopted a new Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP). The CEAP seeks to: make sustainable products the norm across the EU prioritise sectors likely to be highly affected by circularity, such as construction and buildings, batteries and vehicles, water, packaging, plastics, batteries, electronics empower consumers and public procurers cut waste For further details on the CEAP, see News Analysis: New circular economy action plan published, Sustainable products and supply chains (EU Law)—overview and Practice Note: EU Environment—horizon scanner, which covers key new and upcoming EU legislation and consultations relating to waste regulation,...

OSPAR The OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic 1992 (OSPAR) is an international agreement rooted in the 1972 Oslo Convention against dumping and the 1974 Paris Convention, which expanded Oslo's scope to land-based marine pollution and the offshore sector. Those two instruments were later consolidated and developed through OSPAR, which further extended their combined reach. In 1998, a biodiversity and ecosystems annex was agreed to cover non-polluting human activities capable of harming the sea. For further details, see Practice Note: Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR)—snapshot. OSPAR deals with every source of contamination of the marine environment and the harmful impacts of human activities on it, applies the precautionary principle, and enhances regional co-operation through co-operative regional action across the North-East Atlantic region...