The claimant challenged English Nature’s confirmation of a notice that their land was a site of special scientific interest. The land comprised some 600 acres in Hampshire which had planning permission for mineral extraction known as ‘Bramshill’. The basis of the challenge was that: – (1) the decision breached the claimant’s right to a fair trial under ECHR Article 6; (2) the decision breached the claimant’s legitimate expectations; and (3) there was no justifiable basis for the decision. In the alternative, the claimant sought a declaration that section 28 of the 1981 Act was incompatible with its Article 6 rights.
Held: The court rejected all three heads of challenge, and dismissed the application for a declaration of incompatibility. The court decided the Article 6 point on Alconbury principles, namely that whilst English Nature did not have a sufficient appearance of independence and impartiality, there were sufficient safeguards built in to its decision making process which, when added to the court’s powers of judicial review rendered the process Article 6 compliant, as the court possessed ‘full jurisdiction’ to deal with the case
Forbes J
[2002] EWHC 908 (Admin), [2003] Env LR 3
Bailii
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Regina (Holding and Barnes plc) v Secretary of State for Environment Transport and the Regions; Regina (Alconbury Developments Ltd and Others) v Same and Others HL 9-May-2001
Power to call in is administrative in nature
The powers of the Secretary of State to call in a planning application for his decision, and certain other planning powers, were essentially an administrative power, and not a judicial one, and therefore it was not a breach of the applicants’ rights . .
Cited by:
Cited – Regina on the Application of Fisher v English Nature CA 27-May-2004
The claimants appealed a refusal of their request for a judicial review of a decision of the respondent to designate their land as being of special scientific interest because of the need to protect the stone curlew.
Held: The defendant’s . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Environment, Human Rights
Updated: 03 December 2021; Ref: scu.172203