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03 July 2008 / Stephen Hockman
Issue: 7328 / Categories: Features , Environment
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Environment law update

NEW COMPLIANCE REGIME

SPECIAL HABITATS PROTECTION

DISILLUSIONMENT
In their latest “Environmental Law bulletin” (March 2008), the editors of the Encyclopaedia of Environmental Law reveal a certain sense of disillusionment. Modern environmental politics they say is:

“...characterised by astonishing levels of double-mindedness, whereby so much self-righteous effort can be put into the minutiae, yet the effects of (say) expansion of Heathrow may be swallowed so easily.”

Yet there have been a range of recent developments both in legislation and in case law which are much too significant to be described as minutiae and at the same time are much more beneficial to the environment than airport expansion.

EMISSION REDUCTIONS
At the European level the EU is considering proposed amendments to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) Directive (the subject of a new consultation exercise by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), a draft decision allocating among member states the responsibility for achieving emissions reductions outside the EU ETS sectors and a new Directive and communication relating to carbon capture and storage.

At a national level,

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
The winners of the LexisNexis Legal Awards 2026 have now been announced, marking another outstanding celebration of excellence, innovation, and impact across the legal profession
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
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