Featured documents
R (Greyhound Board of Great Britain Ltd) v Welsh Ministers [2026] EWHC 670 (Admin) What are the practical implications of this case? The ruling reinforces the constitutional divide between the courts and the legislature. It explains that the scheme and framework of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (GWA 2006) embody that separation of powers, and that any judicial attempt to recognise and enforce a common law obligation on Welsh Ministers to consult prior to introducing legislation in the Senedd would trespass upon that boundary. This is not a departure from established principle; case law has already upheld comparable rules for lawmakers in Scotland and at Westminster. However, this is the first express confirmation of the position for Welsh lawmakers, and the first time this dimension of the GWA 2006 has been analysed in such depth. The court examined earlier
The solution arrived through the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), a quasi‑judicial body handling mass claims, created under UN Security Council Resolution 687. By addressing environmental harm—most notably via its ‘F4’ claim class—the UNCC set a seminal benchmark shaping how international law and contemporary arbitral panels allocate financial responsibility for wartime ecological devastation. With present-day wars in areas such as Eastern Europe and the Middle East bringing dam breaches, strikes on chemical facilities, and the burning of farmland, the UNCC’s legacy endures as an essential reference point for states, global investors, and companies engaged in post‑conflict arbitration. The F4 claims: Quantifying the unquantifiable Prior to the 1990s, mechanisms in international law for war reparations overwhelmingly favoured property loss, foregone earnings, and bodily injury. The natural world was commonly treated as a mute, non-compensable victim of armed hostilities...
Understanding the farming business as a business Many farms still use long-standing structures that arose by habit, not strategy. Sole traders, informal partnerships and outdated partnership deeds are common. While once effective, such setups can cause major issues around succession, tax planning and involving the next generation. A corporate team can take a fresh, business-led view of the farm, asking: Who owns the land and other critical assets? Who manages daily operations? Who carries the risk and who enjoys the return? What is the enduring plan for succession? From this review, the team can confirm whether the current setup is fit for purpose or if an alternative — for example an updated partnership agreement, a company, a limited liability partnership, or a blended model — would better meet the family’s aims. Tax efficiency through joined-up advice Tax sits at the centre of most
Most recent News
The Chief Regulator A fresh post of Chief Regulator has been set up to scrutinise the EA’s delivery of regulation and champion best practice, underpinning the EA’s commitment to being an open, transparent watchdog. The report notes that 93% of more than 14,000 firms meet the terms of their environmental permits, though a minority of operators still cause harm. Over the past year, the EA has levied £8.7m in fines on these non-compliant businesses. The report stresses the importance of a proportionate approach that backs responsible companies while ensuring weak performers face consequences. Dr Nettleton urges that the EA be given ‘more teeth’ so decisive action is taken against those who breach environmental law, stopping them from securing a competitive edge through non-compliance. It is a refrain the EA has voiced before. The report also records that the EA has closed 63 illegal waste sites,...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency of products Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability Key developments Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Sources of environmental law Waste Water, flooding and drainage Lex Talk®Environment: a Lexis®Nexis community Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change UK submits 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution to UNFCCC The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ( DESNZ) has confirmed the UK has filed its 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution ( NDC) with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change ( UNFCCC). In keeping with the Paris Agreement, the commitment is to cut all greenhouse gas emissions by at least 81% by 2035 relative to 1990, excluding emissions from...
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Brexit Energy efficiency and buildings Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Latest Q& A Air emissions and climate change Energy Security Secretary outlines net zero commitments to EAC The Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary set out a series of clear, priority pledges to the Environmental Audit Committee ( EAC), in support of delivering net zero objectives. These pledges include requiring any airport growth to comply with the Climate Change Act ( CCA 2008) and align with Carbon Budgets, giving the EAC a central role in examining the Seventh Carbon Budget, and obliging ministers to table yearly parliamentary statements on the government’s assessment of the state of climate and nature. The government also promised to lay secondary legislation to bring the UK’s share of...
Defra has confirmed it will not grant emergency authorisation to use Cruiser SB, a neonicotinoid insecticide containing thiamethoxam, on sugar beet in England in 2025. This decision comes after an application from British Sugar and the National Farmers’ Union requesting emergency use approval, which has now been refused by Defra......
In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental enforcement and prosecutions ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Key developments and materials Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content New Q& As Air emissions and climate change DESNZ publishes response to consultation on NRMM decarbonisation options The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ( DESNZ) has released a synopsis of feedback to its December 2023 call for evidence on decarbonising non-road mobile machinery ( NRMM). Replies underlined the wide variety of NRMM and their many roles across the economy, and pointed to the probable need for a mix of...
Scottish Power ( SPCL) Ltd and others v HMRC [2025] EWCA Civ 3 The taxpayers are prominent suppliers in the energy market. From 2013 to 2016, they reached settlements with Ofgem, their regulator, resolving investigations into consumer protection. Although Ofgem first proposed hefty fines, it ultimately agreed to a token penalty of £1. That outcome depended on the taxpayers paying significant sums to consumers, charities and an energy consumer campaign, and on their having implemented, or promising to implement, enhancements to compliance and customer service processes. The investigations and settlements were pursued under Ofgem’s statutory powers. HMRC refused corporation tax deductions for the consumer redress outlays. The First-tier Tax Tribunal ( FTT) upheld HMRC’s position, apart from one element of the payments. Both sides appealed, and the Upper Tribunal ( UT) concluded that every payment was...
BBC World Service cited tests which it claimed showed that 17 products, largely own-brand lines, were likely to include Chinese tomatoes. The supermarkets offering these goods have challenged the BBC’s conclusions. The findings were also showcased in the BBC Panorama episode, ‘ What’s on Your Supermarket Shelves? The Dark Side of the Tomato Trade.’ The investigation reported that China produces about a third of the world’s tomatoes—principally from the Xinjiang region—where production is, it alleged, connected to forced labour involving Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities. Chinese officials reject assertions of coercion in the tomato industry and contend that workers’ rights are protected by law. This raises complex issues for UK grocers stocking such items, who may find themselves within the scope of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 ( POCA 2002) as a...
Hydrogen What were the key developments in 2024? The direction of hydrogen policy in 2024 was largely shaped by several notable releases from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero ( DESNZ) in December 2023, namely: Hydrogen Strategy Delivery Update Hydrogen Production Delivery Roadmap Hydrogen Transport & Storage ( T& S) Networks Pathway market engagements on the assessment criteria for the first allocation rounds of the Hydrogen Transport Business Model ( HTBM) and Hydrogen Storage Business Model ( HSBM) an updated version 3 of the Low Carbon Hydrogen Standard ( LCHS) the outcome of the first Hydrogen Allocation Round ( HAR) ( HAR1) for the Hydrogen Production Business Model ( HPBM), together with the launch of the second HAR ( HAR2) On 2 January 2024, the HPBM hit a major milestone when DESNZ formally appointed the Low Carbon Contracts Company Ltd ( LCCC) as the...
In this issue: Key developments and materials Air emissions and climate change Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments and materials End‑of‑year review 2024: the Environment team at Lexis Nexis® reflect on standout environmental law shifts across the year, spanning chemicals, climate change and related litigation, energy performance of buildings, environmental governance, ESG and sustainability, nature, biodiversity and habitat protection, waste and extended producer responsibility, and water. See News Analysis: Environmental law developments—end of year review 2024. Environment 2024 cases round‑up: this News Analysis highlights notable judgments for environment lawyers, including R (on the application of Friends of the Earth Ltd) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2024] EWHC 2707 ( Admin); Verein Klima...
In this issue: Key developments and materials Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental information ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Key developments and materials Revised National Planning Policy Framework—analysis of key changes This commentary presents insights from Jennifer Eng on the National Planning Policy Framework ( NPPF). For more, see News Analysis: Revised National Planning Policy Framework—analysis of key changes. It sets out her comments on the latest changes. Defra responds to 2024 OEP report on progress in improving natural environment The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ( Defra) has released its response to the Office for Environmental Protection ( OEP)’s January 2024 review of progress in enhancing the natural environment in England. It tackles five core recommendations from the OEP’s 2023 report, including the requirement for effective delivery of the...
What are the practical implications of this case? Determining forum in a case of this nature requires the judge to weigh a spectrum of factors, any of which may indicate a more suitable jurisdiction. Reasonable evaluators can legitimately differ—both in how they assess specific evidence and in the importance they attach to competing considerations. On appeal, intervention is tightly confined: the appellate court will step in only if the first instance court has strayed in principle or reached a result outside the wide range within which fair disagreement is possible, and is therefore plainly wrong. Considering matters that were irrelevant Overlooking relevant matters Arriving at a conclusion beyond the generous ambit of reasonable disagreement In this case, multiple errors were identified. Consequently, the Court of Appeal considered it right to conduct its own assessment of the Spiliada criteria and to reach its own...
Guidance 1: When electrical and electronic equipment ( EEE) becomes waste Taking effect on 1 January 2025, this guidance supports a range of organisations, such as approved authorised treatment facilities, designated collection facilities, producer compliance schemes, groups preparing used EEE for re-use, and waste carriers. It sets out what counts as EEE and indicates the point at which it can become waste. Under the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment ( WEEE) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3113, EEE means equipment that relies on electric currents or electromagnetic fields to operate correctly, together with equipment intended for the generation, transfer and measurement of those currents and fields. Before deciding if EEE is liable to become waste, the principles of re-use and the Circular Economy should be weighed. These re-use considerations should come first in any such assessment......
In this issue: Key developments and materials Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency and buildings Energy efficiency of products Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental enforcement and prosecutions Environmental information ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Sources of environmental law ( UK, EU, international) Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Updated Practice Notes Trackers Environment Highlights 2024/2025 Key developments and materials Environmental law developments—end of year review 2024 The Environment team at Lexis Nexis® reflect on notable environmental law developments across 2024. Topics span coverage of chemicals, climate change and related litigation, energy performance of buildings, environmental governance, ESG and sustainability, nature, biodiversity and habitat protection, waste and extended producer...
2024 has seen lively action in the courts for environmental law, with two prominent Supreme Court judgments and further momentum in climate change litigation. We outline these headline cases, alongside other matters of note, in this. For wider coverage of environmental law in 2024 and what to anticipate in 2025, see News Analysis: Environmental law developments—end of year review 2024. Climate change—application and enforcement of domestic climate obligations, including human rights ( NAP3 challenge) In R (on the application of Friends of the Earth Ltd) v Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2024] EWHC 2707 ( Admin), the High Court examined a judicial review challenge to the third National Adaptation Programme ( NAP3) under the Climate Change Act 2008 ( CCA 2008). The court rejected the claim, holding that NAP3 is lawful. It concluded that the Secretary of State made no legal error when...
Friends of the Earth Netherlands et al v Royal Dutch Shell plc, case number 200.302.332/01 What are the practical implications of this case? In 2019, Milieudefensie et al. ( Milieudefensie) initiated proceedings against Royal Dutch Shell plc ( Shell), asserting that Shell was obliged under the Paris Agreement to reduce its CO2 emissions. They contended that Shell had breached its duty of care to the claimants by failing to take sufficient action on climate change, relying on the Dutch Civil Code, informed by Article 2 (right to life) and Article 8 (right to private family life) of the European Court of Human Rights ( ECHR). In 2021, the district court found in favour of Milieudefensie in a landmark ruling, establishing that companies must safeguard human rights and the environment, and directing the Shell group to achieve a net 45% reduction in CO2...
Background Created under the Energy Performance of Buildings ( England and Wales) Regulations 2012, the EPB framework has played a key role in boosting energy efficiency and cutting carbon outputs across the building stock. EPC ratings have served as the foundation for targets like the minimum energy efficiency standards ( MEES) and have also acted as an eligibility criterion for funding. Yet, as energy performance evolves, the drive to achieve net zero and the supportive context of the Energy Act 2023 have led the government to conclude that reform is required. Key areas The consultation sets out several pivotal areas where changes are proposed: Updating EPC Metrics & Design: domestic EPCs rely on an Energy Efficiency Rating ( EER) derived from modelled energy costs per m2, using standardised heating schedules, temperatures and fixed fuel price assumptions. Non-domestic EPCs draw on the...
The Action Plan acknowledges that the present planning system is not advancing at the speed needed to meet the 2030 clean power target. Advice from the National Energy Systems Operator ( NESO) reportedly suggests that, although the pipeline holds sufficient projects across most technologies, turning that pipeline into delivery will demand much faster rates of planning and consenting decisions. Some barriers have already been eased — for example, the lifting of the de facto ban on onshore wind in England — yet the Action Plan makes plain that further action remains necessary. With this in mind, it commits to a comprehensive programme of planning reform, outlined below. Resourcing Government will equip bodies across the planning system with the tools they require, including the Planning Inspectorate ( PINS), statutory consultees, local planning authorities ( LPAs) and government consenting teams, by: broadening...
The Court of Appeal ruled that England was 'clearly and distinctly the appropriate forum' Overturning the High Court’s earlier view that proceedings belonged in Malaysia, the appellate judges found that England is where the dispute should be tried. The claimants assert Dyson failed to act on reports that they had been trafficked and mistreated at a plant producing parts for its goods. Delivering the three-judge panel’s ruling, Justice Andrew Popplewell concluded the court below was wrong to treat the matter as closely tied to the Southeast Asian jurisdiction. He determined the case belongs in England because Dyson’s British company is ‘the principal protagonist’. He added that the pleaded breach— Dyson UK not ensuring policies were carried out in Malaysia, and not responding adequately to information about the abuse, whether known or reasonably knowable—concerns lapses by management in England and is said to have...
The Court of Appeal agreed fully with Spain that the previous judge erred in concluding he was not bound by a June 2022 European Court of Justice ruling, which held that arbitration proceedings could not block enforcement in England of the Spanish judgment. Yet Master of the Rolls Geoffrey Vos, leading a panel of three justices, also expressly found that the High Court judge was right to decide that recognising the Spanish judgment, in the government's favour, against the London Steam- Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association Ltd, conflicted with an English arbitral decision. Justice Vos concluded that a 2013 arbitral award created a binding issue estoppel. He further said it would be manifestly contrary to English public policy, under the Brussels regulation, for the Spanish judgment to be recognised. Accordingly, the judge was correct, in the result, to refuse to register the Spanish...
2024 has proved another fast-moving and notable year for environmental law. A change in government is set to shape ongoing legal developments across the UK, and in this review the Environment team at Lexis Nexis® reflects on these shifts while spotlighting several headline areas of reform. The team also highlights pivotal shifts in policy and practice. For an overview of significant judgments from 2024, see Environment 2024 cases round up. What does the new labour government mean for environmental law in England and Wales? The precise implications of the Labour government for environmental law in England and Wales are not yet clear. Thus far in 2024, ministers have moved to tighten oversight of water companies and address water pollution via the Water ( Special Measures) Bill; halted oil and gas licences, and retracted backing for a new coal mine. Great British Energy has been...
Popular documents
When evaluating a general damages claim, the practitioner ought initially to refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG)...
This Practice Note This Practice Note reviews mechanisms used in settling litigation. A Tomlin order consists of a consent order paired with a schedule. It operates to stay proceedings on terms that have been agreed. The provisions contained in the schedule may remain confidential. This Practice Note describes the scope of confidentiality attaching to the schedule and sets out how it differs from a standard consent order. Sample wording for a Tomlin order is included, alongside links to precedents, as well as guidance on court approval. It also addresses varying, setting aside and enforcing a Tomlin order, including the considerations the court will take into account when handling applications for each. Further guidance is provided on interpreting and applying the relevant provisions of the CPR; however, some courts and divisions impose very specific requirements for both drafting and approval, and for approaching the schedule and confidentiality issues. Accordingly, you must consider the particular rules and court guide provisions in the forum where your claim is proceeding when drawing up the Tomlin order...
Date [ date ] Parties [ name of Landlord ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Landlord) [ name of Tenant ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Tenant) [ [ name of Guarantor ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Guarantor) ] [ [ name of Mortgagee ] [ of OR incorporated in England and Wales (company registration number [ number ]) with its registered office at ] [ address ] (Mortgagee) ] Definitions Within this Deed, the terms below shall be interpreted as follows: [ Annual Rent • the annual sum reserved under the Lease; ] [ Insurance Rent • the Tenant’s share of the Landlord’s costs of insuring the Property (as set out in the Lease); ] Lease • the lease of the Property dated [ date ], entered into between (1) [ the Landlord OR [ name ...
I, [ name ], of [ address ], solemnly and sincerely state that: [ Matters to be verified, set out in numbered paragraphs ] I make this solemn statement in good conscience, believing it to be true, and pursuant to the provisions of the Statutory Declarations Act 1835. DECLARED at [ details ] this [ day ] day of [ month and year ] Before me ................................................................................ [ signature of the person before whom the declaration is made ] A [ commissioner for oaths OR [ solicitor OR [ insert other qualification ] ] authorised to administer oaths ]...
Discover more from LexisNexis
