swarb.co.uk - law index
These cases are from the lawindexpro database. They are now being transferred to the swarb.co.uk website in a better form. As a case is published there, an entry here will link to it. The swarb.co.uk site includes many later cases.
Environment - From: 1998 To: 1998
This page lists 35 cases, and was prepared on 27 May 2018.
Ann Murdoch and Duncan Murdoch v Glacier Metal Company Limited Gazette, 18 February 1998; [1998] EWCA Civ 33; Times, 21 January 1998
19 Jan 1998
CA
Lord Justice Nourse Lord Justice Pill And Lord Justice Thorpe
Nuisance, Environment
Excess noise by nearby factory above World Health Organisation level was not an actionable nuisance. It was a question for each factual situation. An allowance had to be made for the character of the neighbourhood.
1 Cites
[ Bailii ]
Empress Car Company (Abertillery) Ltd v National Rivers Authority; HL 22-Jan-1998 - Gazette, 26 February 1998; Times, 09 February 1998; Gazette, 25 March 1998; [1998] 2 WLR 350; [1998] UKHL 5; [1999] 2 AC 22; [1998] 1 All ER 481
Surrey Free Inns Plc v Gosport Borough Council Times, 13 February 1998; Gazette, 11 February 1998; [1998] EWHC Admin 92
28 Jan 1998
Admn
Lord Justice Simon Brown And Mr Justice Mance
Environment, Nuisance
The local authority issued a noise nuisance abatement notice. By the time the matter came to the court, the nuisance had been abated. Held: The background situation justifying the issue of a nuisance abatement notice was to be assessed at the date at which it was issued, and not at the later date of a magistrates' or crown court hearing. The notice properly did not say what works were required, since the land owner might choose to abate it in several ways.
Environmental Protection Act 1990 80(1)
1 Cites
1 Citers
[ Bailii ]
Leeds v London Borough of Islington [1998] EWHC Admin 106
29 Jan 1998
Admn
Environment
Environmental Protection Act 1995
1 Cites
[ Bailii ]
Taylor v Walsall and District Property and Investment Co Ltd Times, 05 February 1998; Gazette, 11 February 1998
5 Feb 1998
QBD
Environment
Those intending to claim costs as part of statutory nuisance case under the Act should give advance notice of their claim or objection.
Environmental Protection Act 1990 82(2)
Regina v North Yorkshire County Council Ex Parte Brown and Another; CA 9-Feb-1998 - Times, 09 February 1998
Richard Albon v Railtrack Plc; Basildon District Council v Railtrack Plc Times, 27 February 1998; [1998] EWHC Admin 162
10 Feb 1998
Admn
Environment, Local Government
A notice requiring the removal of a rat infestation was effective though it had only been signed by a member of the staff of the local authority.
Prevention of Damage by Pests Act 1949
[ Bailii ]
Environment Agency v Brock Plc Times, 26 March 1998; [1998] EWHC Admin 187
16 Feb 1998
Admn
Environment
A latent fault in a pipe was ordinarily expectable and the owner of a pipe was liable for escapes through the broken seal even though he had no knowledge of the fault.
Water Resources Act 1991 104(3)
Guerra and Others v Italy; ECHR 19-Feb-1998 - Gazette, 20 May 1998; 14967/89; (1998) 26 EHRR 357; [1998] ECHR 7
Landcatch Ltd v The Braer Corporation and Others Times, 06 March 1998; [1998] 2 Lloyd's LR 552
6 Mar 1998
OHCS
Lord Gill
Environment, Scotland
The pursuers reared salmon eggs to the age of two years (smolt), before then selling them on. The defenders caused an oil spill, and the area was designated as an exclusion zone preventing the pursuers continuing their trade and could not sell their smolt save at a much reduced price or not at all. Held: The liability for damages flowing from an oil spill at sea were limited. These damages were only relational economic loss occurring in the area of the spill.
Merchant Shipping (Oil Pollution) Act 1971
1 Citers
Mahmed Ali v Mayor and Burgesses of London Borough of Camden [1998] EWHC Admin 304
11 Mar 1998
Admn
Environment
Environmental Protection Act 1990 79(1)(a)
[ Bailii ]
Walkers Snack Foods Ltd Applicant v Coventry City Council; Admn 17-Mar-1998 - Times, 09 April 1998; [1998] EWHC Admin 327
Regina v Stratford Magistrates Court ex parte Calverley [1998] EWHC Admin 468
29 Apr 1998
Admn
Environment, Magistrates, Natural Justice
Environmental Protection Act 1979 80
[ Bailii ]
Regina v Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council Ex Parte Kirkham Gazette, 22 July 1998; [1998] EWCA Civ 772
5 May 1998
CA
Environment, Judicial Review
When an application had been made for planning permission for a waste incinerator, a neighbour had a sufficient interest to apply for a judicial review, but the Local Authority was right to pay heed to the Best Practicable Environmental Option requirement.
1 Cites
1 Citers
[ Bailii ]
Regina v Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Commissioners of Customs and Excise, ex parte National Farmers' Union and others Times, 10 May 1999; Case C-293/97; C-157/96; [1998] EUECJ C-157/96
5 May 1998
ECJ
Environment, European, European
Land from which nitrates were leeching off into rivers causing pollution, had to be designated as environmentally vulnerable land, if agricultural activities were a substantial even if only partially cause of the pollution. "As regards . . . the principle of proportionality, it is settled law that, in order to establish whether a provision of Community law complies with that principle, it must be ascertained whether the means which it employs are suitable for the purpose of achieving the desired objective and whether they do not go beyond what is necessary to achieve it."
Council Directive 91/676/EEC
1 Citers
[ Bailii ]
Regina v Environment Agency and Redland Aggregates Limited ex parte Gibson Environment Agency and Redland Aggregates Limited ex parte Leam Environment Agency ex parte Sellers and Petty [1998] EWHC Admin 500
8 May 1998
Admn
Environment
[ Bailii ]
Regina v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions and Another, ex parte Marson Times, 18 May 1998
18 May 1998
CA
Environment
The Secretary of State need not give any reasons for his decision not to require an environmental impact assessment for a development.
Town and Country Planning (Assessment of Environmental Effects) Regulations 1988 (1988 No 1199)
Swan v Secretary of State for Scotland Times, 04 June 1998
4 Jun 1998
IHCS
Environment
Since it was not impossible to assess after the event the environmental impact it was equally possible to order an environmental assessment after the event, and judicial review of decision was possible.
Regina v Inspector Stephen Pratt and Lancashire County Council ex parte Peel Investments (North) Limited and Biffa Waste Services Limited [1998] EWHC Admin 634
12 Jun 1998
Admn
Environment
[ Bailii ]
Blue Circle Industries Plc v Ministry of Defence Times, 16 June 1998; Gazette, 22 July 1998; [1998] EWCA Civ 945; [1999] 2 WLR 295; [1999] Ch 289; [1998] 3 All ER 385; [1998] EGCS 93; [1999] Env LR 22
16 Jun 1998
CA
Simon Brown, Aldous, Chadwick LJJ
Environment, Nuisance
Contamination of land by the overflow of radioactive materials from a pond, led to damages for the cost of repair, and also the permanent diminution of the value in the land from physical damage.
Nuclear Installations Act 1965 7(1)(a)
1 Cites
1 Citers
[ Bailii ]
Burgemeester en wethouders van Haarlemmerliede en Spaarnwoude and others v Gedeputeerde Staten van Noord-Holland C-81/96; [1998] EUECJ C-81/96
18 Jun 1998
ECJ
European, Environment
ECJ Environment - Assessment of the effects of certain projects on the environment - Directive 85/337 - Project for which consent was obtained prior to the deadline for transposing the directive into national law - New consent procedure initiated after that deadline - Project subject to obligations relating to environmental impact assessment (Council Directive 85/337) Directive 85/337 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment is to be interpreted as not permitting Member States to waive the obligations regarding environmental assessments in the case of projects listed in Annex I of the directive where - the projects have already been the subject of a consent granted prior to 3 July 1988, the date by which the directive was to have been transposed into national law, - the consent was not preceded by an environmental assessment in accordance with the requirements of the directive and no use was made of it, and a fresh consent procedure was formally initiated after 3 July 1988. It is true that the principle of compulsory environmental assessment in accordance with the directive does not apply where the consent procedure was initiated before 3 July 1988 and was still in progress on that date. The reason for that is to avoid making more cumbersome and time-consuming, as a result of the specific requirements imposed by the directive, procedures which are already complex at national level and which were formally initiated before that date. Those considerations do not apply, however, in the circumstances mentioned above, particularly as national legal remedies are available in respect of the new consent procedure.
[ Bailii ]
Re Mineral Resources Limited; Environment Agency v Stout (Chd; Apr 1998) Gazette, 24 June 1998
24 Jun 1998
ChD
Environment, Insolvency
A waste management licence was property, but public policy required that such licences should not be disclaimable by liquidators. There is a need to preserve responsibilities of those taking such licences.
Environmental Protection Act 1990 - Insolvency Act 1986 178
Beside and Besselsen v Minister van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieubeheer C-192/96; [1998] EUECJ C-192/96
25 Jun 1998
ECJ
European, Environment
ECJ The expression 'municipal/household waste' referred to under point AD 160 of the amber list in Annex III to Regulation No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community, as amended by Decision 94/721 adapting, pursuant to Article 42(3), Annexes II, III and IV to Regulation No 259/93, includes both waste which for the most part consists of waste mentioned on the green list in Annex II to that regulation, mixed with other categories of waste appearing on that list, and waste mentioned on the green list mixed with a small quantity of materials not referred to on that list. Such mixed waste does not come within the green list unless it has been collected separately or properly sorted.
The information listed in Article 11(1) of the regulation, which must accompany shipments of waste intended for recovery appearing in Annex II, constitutes the minimum evidence which the competent authority may, in the absence of notification, require in order to establish that `green waste' is intended for recovery.
In the case of shipments of waste which have not been notified to all the competent authorities concerned (illegal traffic), the Member State of destination may not unilaterally return waste to the Member State of dispatch without prior notification to the latter; the Member State of dispatch may not oppose its return where the Member State of destination produces a duly motivated request to that effect.
The reference to the storage of materials in point R 13 of Annex II B to Directive 75/442 on waste, as amended by Directive 91/156, which lists waste recovery operations, covers not only cases in which storage takes place in the undertaking in which the other operations mentioned in that annex must be carried out but also cases in which storage precedes transport to such an undertaking, regardless of whether the latter is established inside or outside the Community.
[ Bailii ]
Chemische Afvalstoffen Dusseldorp and others v Minister van Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieubeheer [1998] ECR I-4075; C-203/96; [1998] EUECJ C-203/96
25 Jun 1998
ECJ
European, Environment
ECJ Directive 75/442 on waste, as amended by Directive 91/156, and Regulation No 259/93 on the supervision and control of shipments of waste within, into and out of the European Community cannot be interpreted as meaning that the principles of self-sufficiency and proximity are applicable to shipments of waste for recovery. That follows from the provisions of the directive and the regulation and from the preparatory texts. Furthermore, the difference in treatment between waste for recovery and waste for disposal reflects the intention of the Community legislature to encourage recovery of waste in the Community as whole, in particular by eliciting the best technologies, which means that waste of that type should be able to move freely between Member States for processing, thus excluding the application of the principles of self-sufficiency and proximity.
Article 130t of the Treaty, which authorises Member States to adopt protective measures which are more stringent than those adopted pursuant to Article 130s, in so far as they are compatible with the Treaty, does not permit them to extend the application of those principles to waste for recovery when it is clear that those principles create a barrier to exports which is not justified either by an imperative measure relating to protection of the environment or by one of the derogations provided for by Article 36 of the Treaty.
Article 90 of the Treaty, in conjunction with Article 86, precludes rules such as the Netherlands' Long-term Plan for the Disposal of Dangerous Waste of June 1993, whereby a Member State requires undertakings to deliver their waste for recovery, such as oil filters, to a national undertaking on which it has conferred the exclusive right to incinerate dangerous waste unless the processing of their waste in another Member State is of a higher quality than that performed by that undertaking if, without any objective justification and without being necessary for the performance of a task in the general interest, those rules have the effect of favouring the national undertaking and increasing its dominant position.
[ Bailii ]
Environment Agency v Stanford; Admn 30-Jun-1998 - Gazette, 16 June 1999; [1998] EWHC Admin 690; [1999] ENV LR 286; [1998] COD 373
Aher-Waggon v Bundesrepublik Deutschland C-389/96; [1998] EUECJ C-389/96
14 Jul 1998
ECJ
European, Transport, Environment
ECJ (Judgment) Measures having equivalent effect - Directives on noise emissions from aircraft - Stricter domestic limits - Barrier to the importation of an aircraft - Environmental protection
[ Bailii ]
Safety H-Tech Srl v S and T Srl Times, 22 July 1998; C-284/95; [1998] EUECJ C-284/95
22 Jul 1998
ECJ
Environment
Use of hydrochlorofluorocarbons was properly banned for all purposes including fire fighting ones, and no sufficient reason for any exemption had been shown.
Council regulation EC 3093/94 Substance depleting the Ozone Layer
[ Bailii ]
Burgemeester En Wethouders Van Haarlemmerlied En Spaarnwoude v Gedeputerde Staten Van Noord-Holland Gazette, 09 September 1998; C-81/96; Wcj/Cfi Bulletin 16/98, 28
9 Sep 1998
ECJ
Environment, European, Planning
Where a development which might have significant environmental impact was proposed it was necessary to ensure that an environmental impact assessment had been carried out. It was not open to member states to exempt some types of development.
Council Directive 90/313/EEC Freedom of Access to information on the environment.
EC Commission v Hellenic Republic Gazette, 09 September 1998; Ecj/Cfi Bulletin 15/98, 14; C-232/95; [1998] EUECJ C-232/95
9 Sep 1998
ECJ
Environment, European
The court emphasised the need for the member states to implement the Directive to reduce pollution from the listed substances. States should also state how they intended to test the implementation and also the time scale for implementation
Council Directive 76/464/EEC
[ Bailii ] - [ Bailii ]
World Wildlife Fund and others v For Judicial Review of Decisions Relating To the Protection of European Sites [1998] ScotCS 38
27 Oct 1998
SCS
Scotland, Environment
[ Bailii ]
World Wildlife Fund and others, Judicial Review of Decisions Relating To the Protection of European Sites
27 Oct 1998
SCS
Lord Nimmo Smith
Scotland, Environment
[ ScotC ]
Mayer Parry Recycling Ltd v The Environment Agency Times, 03 December 1998; Gazette, 10 February 1999; [1998] EWHC Ch 286
9 Nov 1998
ChD
Environment, Licensing, European
Whether materials were a waste, requiring waste management licenses and procedures, was determined by whether any further process of reclamation or recycling was required. Materials used without further processing were not waste materials under the Act.
Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (1994/1056)
[ Bailii ]
WWF-UK Ltd and Another v Secretary of State for Scotland Times, 20 November 1998
20 Nov 1998
OHCS
Environment
When setting boundaries of sites requiring special environmental protection, a national authority retained discretion to exclude lands which had species intended to be protected if decision is scientifically justified.
EC Birds and Habitats Directives
Commission v Spain C-214/96; [1998] EUECJ C-214/96
25 Nov 1998
ECJ
European, Environment
(Judgment) Failure to fulfil obligations - Failure to transpose Directive 76/464/EEC
Directive 76/464/EEC
[ Bailii ]
National Trust v Secretary of State for Environment; Admn 17-Dec-1998 - [1998] EWHC Admin 1142; [1999] JPL 697; [1998] NPC 166; [1999] COD 235