Consultation on amending the Civil Procedure Rules to establish environmental review

Closed 6 Sep 2021

Opened 26 Jul 2021

Overview

We are inviting your views on amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) which will be required to establish environmental review in the High Court. Environmental review will be the bespoke litigation mechanism for the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) and is provided for in the Environment Bill currently before Parliament.

In this consultation, we welcome views from stakeholders and interested parties on the provision which should be made in the CPR in relation to important matters of procedure for environmental review. We welcome views on several key areas where the Environment Bill does not provide a guide as to the procedural approach which should be taken, as well the general approach which should be taken to amending the rules.

What happens next

A summary of responses to this consultation will be published on the government website at: www.gov.uk/defra. An annex to the consultation summary will list all organisations that responded but will not include personal names, addresses or other contact details. 

Defra may publish the content of your response to this consultation to make it available to the public without your personal name and private contact details (e.g. home address, email address, etc).

If you click on ‘Yes’ in response to the question asking if you would like anything in your response to be kept confidential, you are asked to state clearly what information you would like to be kept as confidential and explain your reasons for confidentiality. 

The reason for this is that information in responses to this consultation may be subject to release to the public or other parties in accordance with the access to information law (these are primarily the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIRs), the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA)). We have obligations, mainly under the EIRs, FOIA and DPA, to disclose information to particular recipients or to the public in certain circumstances. 

In view of this, your explanation of your reasons for requesting confidentiality for all or part of your response would help us balance these obligations for disclosure against any obligation of confidentiality. If we receive a request for the information that you have provided in your response to this consultation, we will take full account of your reasons for requesting confidentiality of your response, but we cannot guarantee that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances.

If you click on ‘No’ in response to the question asking if you would like anything in your response to be kept confidential, we will be able to release the content of your response to the public, but we won’t make your personal name and private contact details publicly available.
Defra may share your response, where appropriate, with the Civil Procedure Rule Committee.

There may be occasions when Defra will share the information you provide in response to the consultation, including any personal data, with external analysts. This is for the purposes of consultation response analysis and provision of a report of the summary of responses only. 

This consultation is being conducted in line with the Cabinet Office “Consultation Principles” which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/consultation-principles-guidance.
If you have any comments or complaints about the consultation process, please address them to: Consultation Coordinator, Defra, 2nd Floor, Foss House, Kings Pool, 1-2 Peasholme Green, York, YO1 7PX Or email: consultation.coordinator@defra.gov.uk 

Events

  • Defra's public consultation event on amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules which will be required to establish environmental review in the High Court

    From 19 Aug 2021 at 14:00 to 19 Aug 2021 at 15:30

    We are holding virtual meetings on Defra’s public consultation on amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) which will be required to establish environmental review in the High Court.

    In parallel with the online consultation, we have organised a number of stakeholder consultation events to seek your views.

    In this consultation event, we are seeking views from stakeholders and interested parties on the provision which should be made in the CPR in relation to important matters of procedure for environmental review. We welcome views on several key areas where the Environment Bill does not provide a guide as to the procedural approach which should be taken, as well the general approach which should be taken to amending the rules.

    The events will offer another opportunity to share your views, as well as participate in further discussion on the consultation and associated issues. There will also be opportunities to ask questions of officials regarding matters of process, or the content of the consultation document.

    For further details, or to confirm your interest in attending, please contact Environmental.Review@defra.gov.uk

  • Defra's public consultation event on amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules which will be required to establish environmental review in the High Court

    From 25 Aug 2021 at 14:30 to 25 Aug 2021 at 16:00

    We are holding virtual meetings on Defra’s public consultation on amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) which will be required to establish environmental review in the High Court.

    In parallel with the online consultation, we have organised a number of stakeholder consultation events to seek your views.

    In this consultation event, we are seeking views from stakeholders and interested parties on the provision which should be made in the CPR in relation to important matters of procedure for environmental review. We welcome views on several key areas where the Environment Bill does not provide a guide as to the procedural approach which should be taken, as well the general approach which should be taken to amending the rules.

    The events will offer another opportunity to share your views, as well as participate in further discussion on the consultation and associated issues. There will also be opportunities to ask questions of officials regarding matters of process, or the content of the consultation document.

    For further details, or to confirm your interest in attending, please contact Environmental.Review@defra.gov.uk

  • Defra's public consultation event on amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules which will be required to establish environmental review in the High Court

    From 2 Sep 2021 at 14:00 to 2 Sep 2021 at 15:30

    We are holding virtual meetings on Defra’s public consultation on amendments to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) which will be required to establish environmental review in the High Court.

    In parallel with the online consultation, we have organised a number of stakeholder consultation events to seek your views.

    In this consultation event, we are seeking views from stakeholders and interested parties on the provision which should be made in the CPR in relation to important matters of procedure for environmental review. We welcome views on several key areas where the Environment Bill does not provide a guide as to the procedural approach which should be taken, as well the general approach which should be taken to amending the rules.

    The events will offer another opportunity to share your views, as well as participate in further discussion on the consultation and associated issues. There will also be opportunities to ask questions of officials regarding matters of process, or the content of the consultation document.

    For further details, or to confirm your interest in attending, please contact Environmental.Review@defra.gov.uk

Audiences

  • Charities/Voluntary Organisations
  • Environmental campaigners
  • Industries and professional services
  • Legal and Conveyancing Professions
  • Local Authorities
  • Business/Private Sector
  • Non-Government Organisation
  • Professional and Membership Organisations/Agencies
  • Public Bodies

Interests

  • Natural environment