Cost: Free

In Lipton v BA City Flyer Ltd (2021) Lord Justice Green said that after Brexit “The court cannot … assume that the old ways of looking at EU derived law hold good … There is much that is familiar but there are also significant differences.” 

Around two thirds of environmental law derives from the EU and while much of that is “retained” in some form or another under the provisions in the EU (Withdrawal) Act 2018, it is critical for lawyers to appreciate what that means, and how it applies.

This seminar will explain the different types of retained EU law – from retained general principles of law to retained case law – and explain the implications of each.

The seminar will then focus particularly on how the position applies to two areas of particular interest for environmental lawyers: 

• Environmental assessment under Directives 2011/92/EU (EIA) and 2001/42/EC (SEA); and
• Habitats and species protection under Directive 92/43/EEC.

Members of FTB have been involved in some of the first cases involving retained EU law (see e.g. R (Pearce) v SSBEIS (2021) and Keir v Natural England (2021)).  

The seminar will be chaired by Michael Humphries QC and speakers will comprise Prof. Pavlos Eleftheriadis, Professor of Public Law at Mansfield College, Oxford and a member of FTB (who has written on retained EU law), Richard Honey QC, Ned Westaway and Esther Drabkin-Reiter.