Standing Up for Our Environment
Lough Neagh is in crisis. Major extraction projects are being pushed through with too little scrutiny. And unlike every other part of these islands, we still have no independent environmental protection agency.
We think that has to change. Our Environmental Law Department exists to help people change it.
We act for individuals, community groups, campaigners, charities and NGOs who want to protect the places they live and hold government, public bodies and polluters to account. We are members of the Public Interest Litigation Support (PILS) Project’s solicitor network, a group of firms across Northern Ireland committed to public interest litigation.
What we do
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Challenge unlawful decisions: judicial review of government departments, councils and public bodies that break the rules, cut corners or fail to act. We successfully challenged the government’s mineral prospecting licencing scheme.
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Take on major developments: objections to planning applications, mining and prospecting licences, and representation at public inquiries. Working alongside PILS and the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), we have worked to make the Dalradian Goldmine Inquiry open to the public.
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Put public bodies on notice: pre-action letters that often force a change of course before a case ever reaches court. We have issued pre-action letters over the government’s failure to tackle the ecological crisis at Lough Neagh.
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Uncover the facts: using your legal right to environmental information, and challenging refusals to provide it.
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Fight pollution: advising communities affected by contaminated water, air, or land.
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Defend environmental defenders: representing people arrested or prosecuted for peaceful protest at the police station and at court.
