R (on the application of ClientEarth) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The Supreme Court has issued its decision in R (ClientEarth) v Secretary of State, the case concerning the United Kingdom’s failure to meet mandatory nitrogen dioxide limits set out in Directive 2008/50/EC (‘the Air Quality Directive’), which lays down limits to be met by 2015 at the latest.

The Secretary of State had accepted that the UK was in breach of the Directive’s mandatory limits in a number of zones and agglomerations, including London, and projected that compliance would not be achieved until as late as 2025 in some cases.  The Secretary of State nevetheless argued that the Court should not grant any relief, the enforcement of the Directive limit values being a matter for the European Commission.

The Supreme Court has granted the declaration sought by ClientEarth to the effect that the UK is in breach of Article 13 of the Directive, that breach having been ‘clearly established’.  That order, said the Court, was appropriate both as a formal statement of the legal position and also to make clear that the way was open to immediate enforcement action at both national and European level.

As to the question of what other remedies might be required by EU law, the Supreme Court held that the case raised difficult issues of EU law, the determination of which required the guidance of the CJEU and accordingly decided to make a reference.  The questions referred are likely to include a question asking what remedies are required by EU law to be provided by a national court in order to comply with the Directive and with Articles 4 and/or 19 TEU.

The parties will now have four weeks to make submissions on the questions to be referred prior to the making of the reference to the CJEU by the Supreme Court.

The full judgment can be found here: http://www.supremecourt.gov.uk/news/latest-judgments.html
            
Dinah Rose QC, Emma Dixon and Ben Jaffey appeared for the appellant, ClientEarth, instructed by Alan Andrews of ClientEarth.