MULTIPLE Scottish environmental charities have called for the SNP Government to address an "abject failure" to take environmental crimes to court.
The Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) and RSPB Scotland have urged the Government to make access to justice for environmental crimes easier.
This comes after the release of the UK Government’s final report assessing compliance with the UN Aarhus Convention.
The Aarhus Convention is a UN treaty that guarantees people's rights to access information, participate in decision-making, and seek justice in environmental matters, including the right to challenge decisions that violate environmental law, which Scotland is obligated to respect.
Last week, the ERCS, RSPB and Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland submitted a comment to the convention's secretariat to express concern about the lack of progress.
ERCS stated that in 2021, the convention's compliance committee provided six recommendations to address barriers preventing people from pursuing environmental cases in court.
However, four years later, the UK Government report confirms that none of these recommendations have been implemented.
“Scotland is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and we are continuing to lose nature, with one in nine species at risk of national extinction,” said Aedán Smith, the head of policy & advocacy at RSPB Scotland.
“Yet, despite welcome progress to improve some legal protections for nature over recent years, it remains extremely difficult for individuals and community groups to challenge poor decisions.”
The Scottish Government was given a deadline of October 1, 2024, to establish a system that would make access to justice more affordable, reform time limits for judicial reviews, and revise planning permissions.
However, the report indicates that Scotland made only minor changes, falling short of the required reforms.
A Scottish Government spokesperson affirmed their commitment to ensuring effective access to justice on environmental issues, saying that the “Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee has previously welcomed ‘significant progress’ in Scotland”.
They went on: “We are hopeful that their response to the UK final progress report, which is currently being considered, will welcome further steps forward, such as the recent independent review of court rules and the removal of court fees for environmental cases in the Court of Session.”
Why is access to justice so unaffordable?
ERCS said that three months after the deadline, access to justice remains unaffordable.
The ERCS pointed out that accessing justice is expensive for two main reasons. First, it’s complicated to get legal aid for environmental cases. Second, the "loser pays" rule means losing parties must cover their opponent's fees, which can cost tens of thousands of pounds.
Shivali Fifield, chief officer at ERCS, explained that not respecting the law means “polluters can act with impunity”.
“Scotland, as part of the UK, has been a signatory to the Aarhus Convention for nearly two decades, but despite repeated warnings from legal experts and campaigners, it has a record of abject failure when it comes to delivering the reforms needed to guarantee access to justice for environmental cases," said Fifield.
“We all need to be able to hold polluters and public bodies to account for the environmental damage they are doing so that we can stand up for nature, and defend our right to a healthy environment.
“But that can’t happen if people are shut out by a prohibitively complex and costly justice system.
“Signing up to a treaty is the easy part, but it is worthless if we don't implement the policies or change practices to ensure we comply with treaty obligations."
The charities are now calling on the Scottish Government to “urgently address” the issue.
