Access to justice in Scotland is prohibitively expensive, and our environmental cases focus on judicial reviews, which means that you can only challenge whether public bodies followed the law in how they made a decision, not the decision itself.

Scotland needs a superior court based on the needs and merits of the case.

Environmental litigation is currently fragmented across different courts and tribunals in Scotland.

A Scottish Environment Court would be an efficient one-stop shop for environmental cases.

Environmental cases require judges who understand and apply complex environmental laws and principles.

A Scottish Environment Court could appoint technical or scientific members to help judges to develop specialist expertise.

Environmental courts can combine civil, administrative, and criminal jurisdictions which can allow judges to select the most effective remedy for a case.

The Scottish Government has committed to incorporating the right to a healthy environment in Scots law with the Human Rights (Scotland) Bill.

A dedicated Scottish Environment Court would provide the specialism and expertise to enforce the procedural element of the right to a healthy environment.