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A Chinese takeaway

24 July 2015 / Tim Malloch
Issue: 7664 / Categories: Features , Public , Environment
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Tim Malloch considers the implications of the Hinkley Point C decision

Climate change is relatively uncharted territory for courts and lawyers. Surprising things can and do happen. In 2008 six Greenpeace protestors arrested for attempting to paint a slogan on the chimney of a coal power station in the UK successfully defended criminal damages charges on the grounds that they were trying to prevent climate change causing greater damage to property around the world. This year a Dutch court ruled that the Netherlands had to take more action to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and ensure that the Dutch emissions in the year 2020 will be at least 25% lower than those in 1990. Seemingly robust political decisions become increasingly vulnerable when exposed to the science of climate change and the due process of litigation. 

The Austrian challenge

In April 2014 the European Commission excluded the nuclear industry from the guidelines on state aid for environmental protection and energy 2014-2020 on the grounds that it did not have sufficient experience to lay down

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DWF—19 appointments

DWF—19 appointments

Belfast team bolstered by three senior hires and 16 further appointments

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Cadwalader—Andro Atlaga

Firm strengthens leveraged finance team with London partner hire

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Knights—Ella Dodgson & Rebecca Laffan

Double hire marks launch of family team in Leeds

NEWS
Charlie Mercer and Astrid Gillam of Stewarts crunch the numbers on civil fraud claims in the English courts, in this week's NLJ. New data shows civil fraud claims rising steadily since 2014, with the King’s Bench Division overtaking the Commercial Court as the forum of choice for lower-value disputes
Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ
The Supreme Court issued a landmark judgment in July that overturned the convictions of Tom Hayes and Carlo Palombo, once poster boys of the Libor and Euribor scandal. In NLJ this week, Neil Swift of Peters & Peters considers what the ruling means for financial law enforcement
Small law firms want to embrace technology but feel lost in a maze of jargon, costs and compliance fears, writes Aisling O’Connell of the Solicitors Regulation Authority in this week's NLJ
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve reports on Haynes v Thomson, the first judicial application of the Supreme Court’s For Women Scotland ruling in a discrimination claim, in this week's NLJ
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