A Scottish Environment Court would reduce costs, develop expertise, increase accessibility, effectiveness and efficiency to achieve better outcomes for people and the environment.
In June 2023, the Scottish Government opened its environmental governance consultation, observing a legal duty to consider ‘whether the law in Scotland on access to justice on environmental matters is effective and sufficient, and whether and, if so, how the establishment of an environmental court could enhance the governance arrangements’.
The consultation creates an important opportunity to reassess how environmental disputes are dealt with in Scotland and how it can be made easier to uphold our right to a healthy environment.
However, ERCS is deeply disappointed with the Framing Report that sets out the government’s position.
We urge allies and supporters to respond forcefully to the consultation, restating the case for an environmental court – see our draft template response for guidance.
For further detail, you may also wish to consult Professor Campbell Gemmell’s 2023 report The clear and urgent case for a Scottish Environment Court, which reviews governance developments pre and post Brexit, and reinforces the arguments made in ERCS’s 2021 report on why Scotland needs an environmental court or tribunal .
Blogs & news
New briefing condemns the Environmental Governance review as an unlawful failure
A new ERCS briefing responds to the Scottish Government’s Environmental Governance Review, highlighting our deep disappointment with the poor quality of the Report …
Watch our animation on the right to a healthy environment and take action
Watch our animation and take action to ensure the right is enforceable …
An enforceable right to a healthy environment: Now is the time for Scotland to deliver
We all depend on nature. A healthy environment is fundamental to the right to life, and is integral to addressing the root causes of food and fuel insecurity, health inequalities, and the cost-of-living crisis …
New briefing highlights need for a Scottish Environment Court
Read our new briefing summarising arguments for a Scottish Environment Court, in anticipation of the Scottish Government’s consultation on access to justice …
Report launch: The clear and urgent case for a Scottish Environment Court
Today we are delighted to publish a new report, ‘The clear and urgent case for a Scottish Environment Court’, commissioned by ERCS and authored by Prof. Campbell Gemmell …
What changes could help Scotland comply with international human rights and environmental law? Part 2
Part one of our two-part blog series summarised the prohibitive costs of judicial review. In this second part, Lloyd Austin – ERCS’s Chair, outlines how establishing an environmental court would be a better way to resolve disputes than using the difficult path of judicial review …
Press release: Environmental Court Report published
Our report published today calls for the creation of a new one-stop-shop environmental court for Scotland …
