Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

authorities definition

What does authorities mean? Authorities are the legal sources a lawyer relies on to justify a proposition of law in submissions, skeleton arguments and judgments. The term is descriptive and widely used across England & Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, rather than being defined by statute. Authorities typically include: primary legislation and subordinate legislation; binding appellate case law within the relevant jurisdiction; and, as persuasive material, decisions from other UK or foreign courts, tribunal rulings, EU and ECHR jurisprudence where applicable, and reputable academic commentary. In Scotland, the writings of the institutional writers (e.g. Stair, Erskine, Bell) may carry particular weight. Textbooks and...

Corby litigation: civil liability of local authorities for contaminated land remediation—negligence, public nuisance and breach of statutory waste duties (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

Actions against regulators/authorities

Beyond Judicial review of decisions, claimants may pursue civil proceedings where loss or damage is caused by breaches of duty and Negligence by public bodies; the Corby litigation is a case in point, ending with an out-of-court settlement in April 2010. Corby dispute arose from Remediation of a former steelworks, a site used for steel production for six decades and for disposal of steelmaking wastes long predating waste regulation. The local authority, Corby DC, holding enterprise zone status and benefiting from derelict land grant and EU regional development funding, acquired the 270ha site from British Steel in stages, reclaiming it in several phases over fifteen years...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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