Visit UKSCJCPC/2023/0070
•
PUBLIC LAW/HUMAN RIGHTS
Eco-Sud and two others (Respondents) v Minister of Environment, Solid Waste and Climate Change and another (Appellants) (Mauritius)
Case summary
Case ID
JCPC/2023/0070
Jurisdiction
Mauritius
Parties
Appellant(s)
(1) Minister of Environment
Solid Waste Management and Climate Change (2) Ministry of Environment
Solid Waste Management and Climate Change
Respondent(s)
(1) Eco-Sud (2) Pointe D'esny Lakeside Co. Ltd (3) Ministry of Agro-Industry and Food Security
Issue
Did the Supreme Court err when it held that the 'liberal' approach to standing in environmental cases approved by the UK Supreme Court in Walton v The Scottish Ministers [2012] UKSC 44 ought to be adopted by the Environment and Land Use Appeal Tribunal when assessing whether a party has standing to bring an appeal under section 54(2) of the Environment Protection Act?
Facts
The Minister of Environment granted an Environment Impact Assessment licence to the Pointe D'Esny Lakeside Company Ltd, for a residential development on two plots of land under section 23 of the Environment Protection Act. The Respondent, Eco-Sud, is an environmental NGO. Eco-Sud objected to the licence being granted and lodged an appeal to the Environment and Land Use Appeal Tribunal ('the Tribunal') under section 54(2) of the Act.At a preliminary hearing, the Tribunal held that the Eco-Sud did not have standing to bring an appeal, because it had not met the criteria set out in section 54(2). In particular, the Eco-Sud had not shown that as an organisation, it was aggrieved by the granting of a licence, nor that the granting of a licence was likely to cause Eco-Sud undue prejudice. The Tribunal dismissed Eco-Sud's appeal, and Eco-Sud appealed to the Supreme Court to challenge the Tribunal's decision.The Supreme Court allowed Eco-Sud's appeal, and held that the test for standing which the Tribunal had applied was too restrictive. In environmental appeals, a more liberal approach to standing was required, as identified by the UK Supreme Court in the case of Walton v The Scottish Ministers [2012] UKSC 44. When the Environment Protection Act was passed, it had not been intended to prevent organisations claiming to have representative standing from bringing appeals.
Date of issue
4 August 2023
Judgment details
Judgment date
4 July 2024
Neutral citation
[2024] UKPC 19
Judgment links
Appeal
Justices
Hearing dates
Start date
5 March 2024
End date
5 March 2024
Watch hearings
5 March 2024 - Morning session
5 March 2024 - Afternoon session
All videos on this page are recorded and transmitted in line with the Court's terms of use. These can be found here.. Please Note: Every effort is being made to provide a satisfactory streaming service of the Supreme Court judgments and hearings. However, these services may be subject to technical issues or delay, in which case we will attempt to resolve them as soon as possible.
Change log
Last updated 9 May 2024