Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Environment definition

What does Environment mean? In legal practice, environment refers to the natural media and the living systems potentially affected by a project, operation or emission. UK environmental legislation commonly defines it as including air, water and land, and any living organisms (including humans) and ecosystems supported by those media. Similar formulations are used across England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and in Irish environmental legislation; exact wording varies by statute and context, but usage is broadly consistent. Where a regime provides a definition, courts apply that text; where it does not, the term carries its ordinary meaning. The concept sets the scope of regulatory...

Environmental sentencing of individuals in England and Wales: applying the Sentencing Council’s 12-step guidelines to waste and illegal discharge offences, confiscation, ancillary orders and mitigation

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

Sentencing

The Sentencing Council has issued offence‑specific sentencing guidelines (the Guidelines) for application in magistrates’ courts and Crown Courts in England and Wales covering unauthorised or harmful waste deposit, treatment or disposal, and unlawful releases to air, water and land, contrary to section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990) and regulations 12 and 38(1)–(3) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, SI 2016/1154 (EPR 2016). They also note the now‑revoked Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR 2010), SI 2010/675, which were superseded by EPR 2016. The Guidelines have effect from 1 July 2014, irrespective of the date of the offence. They do not apply in Scotland or Northern Ireland, though sentencers in those jurisdictions may consult them when determining sentence. For guidance on the investigation, prosecution and sentencing of environmental offences in Scotland, see: Scottish environmental enforcement—overview. The Sentencing Council has additionally produced sentencing guidelines for other environmental offences, which are derived from the framework used for unauthorised or harmful waste deposit, treatment or disposal and for unlawful emissions to air, water and land. These further guidelines mirror the approach used for waste offences and unlawful discharges to air, water and land...

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Christian Jowett

30 Park Place, Cardiff and 36 Group, London

Christian’s core specialisms lie in regulatory law and in administrative law.Christian’s environmental crime practice focuses primarily on waste, but extends to the whole calendar of environmental offending. He has a particular interest in subsidiary confiscation and asset recovery under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which is best represented by R v Morgan [2013] EWCA Crim. 1307, [2014] 1 All E.R. 1208, [2014] Env.L.R. 5, [2013] Lloyd's Rep FC 655, an appeal arising from an environmental prosecution, which concerned the interface between criminal confiscation, environmental regulation, landfill tax and the effect of Article 1, Protocol 1 to the ECHR.A longstanding member of the Wales Working Party of the UK Environmental Law Association, Christian was elected to its National Council in 2017 with special responsibility for Wales, and has for several years co-convened UKELA’s Wales Devolved Group....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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