It turns out that there are at least two ways in which you can subvert an unwritten constitution. The government of Boris Johnson has tried both of them. First, you can ignore unwritten rules, constitutional conventions and observance of the rule of law with an unrestrained contempt that sends the message that such rules are for the ‘little people’. Secondly, you can use a Parliamentary majority to bring in increasingly illiberal legislation that removes rights and undermines constitutional protections against unrestrained executive action.

In the Queen’s Speech on 10 May 2022 announcing the UK government’s forthcoming legislative agenda for the next session of Parliament, it is probably the Brexit Freedoms Bill that has the most immediate significance and likely impact on environmental laws.

In September 2006 I had the good fortune to be invited to speak at a conference in Mariupol, Ukraine, on the ‘Effective Implementation of Environmental Laws’. What is happening there now has reminded me of a visit to Ukraine at a point in time when it was still emerging from its Soviet past, and of earlier witnessing the Berlin Wall and life behind the Iron Curtain.

On 13th January 2022 the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) published its report on “Water Quality in Rivers”

In the second of our notes from the highly successful Wildlife & Countryside Link conference in London on 6th December 2021, we cover some of the remarks by George Eustice, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs on the Environment Act 2021, and discuss the potential significance of his remarks on environmental targets.

All those attending must have greatly appreciated the work done by Wildlife & Countryside Link in preparing an outstanding and highly focussed conference in London on 6th December 2021, featuring two Secretaries of State

The Environment Bill, first published in draft in 2018, subject to interminable delays and carried over from one Parliamentary session to another, finally completed its passage through Parliament on 9th November 2021, still mired in controversy over whether it addresses with adequate clarity the pressing need for effective enforcement of environmental laws

I am really looking forward to speaking on 23 September at the Annual Scottish Conference 2021 of UKELA - UK Environmental Law Association

A new report published on 22 July 2021 outlines the scale of illegal waste activity in England. The report “An independent Study into Fly-tipping and Unregistered Waste Carriers in England” was carried out by Air & Space Evidence and EPR, and commissioned by Material Focus, the not-for-profit behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. I was one of a number of reviewers taken from academia, the waste industry and former Government and regulatory officials.