Legal action to prevent a planned badger cull has failed in the High Court
Mr Justice Ouseley rejected a judicial review brought by the Badger Trust, in R (on the application of the Badger Trust) v Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs [2012] EWHC 1904 (Admin).
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) wished to authorise Natural England to license culling to halt the spread of bovine TB.
The Trust claimed Defra’s own evidence showed the culls risked spreading the disease beyond the cull zones, and would not meet the strict legal test of “preventing the spread of disease” in the areas being licensed, as required under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. It contended that the cost impact assessment underpinning Defra’s decision was flawed, and that Defra exceeded its legal powers when it instructed Natural England to license the cull.
Ruling in favour of Defra, Ouseley J said the Trust’s arguments on cost invited the court to “interfere unduly in the political or administrative decision-making process, a long way short of the point at which an error of law could arise”.
He said Defra planned to conduct two pilot tests, using controlled shooting, and there was no way “to test the effectiveness, humaneness and safety of the less expensive technique of controlled shooting” without trying it.
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