Scottish Court to Hear Greenpeace Challenges Against Rosebank, Jackdaw Oil Projects
Cornerstone Climate, Public Law and Judicial Review, Planning and Environment
Following on from our update about the ongoing challenges to the Rosebank and Jackdaw oil and gas developments, the Court of Session in Edinburgh has now finalised the arrangements for the substantive hearing in relation to those challenges.
All three challenges (two brought by Greenpeace and one by Uplift) will be heard by the Court of Session over four days starting on 12 November. Greenpeace is represented by David Welsh, led by Ruth Crawford KC.
Because the UK Government has accepted that the previous Secretary of State’s decisions to agree to the grant of consent for the projects are unlawful, the hearing is expected largely to focus on the question of what remedy should be granted by the court. The question of remedies in judicial review is, of course, always a matter of discretion for the court. The petitioners, Greenpeace and Uplift, both argue that the consents should be reduced (ie quashed), but the developers, BG International, Equinor and Ithaca, all argue that reduction should be refused in the exercise of the court’s discretion. The UK Government and the North Sea Transition Authority take a broadly neutral stance in relation to remedy.
There is also a question as to what happens at the fields in the meantime as the courts continue to grapple with the application of the UK Supreme Court’s decision in Finch. Whilst the court is considering the question of remedy, the court may be required to determine if the developers should be permitted to continue to develop the fields pending the resolution of the judicial reviews and, if necessary, the retaking of the decisions on consent.
These are important challenges and will be watched closely by developers, campaigners and the Government. There will undoubtedly be a large amount of interest and, as a result, the Court of Session may decide to livestream the hearing. If so, the details of the livestream and how to join should be available on the Court of Session’s website.
Cornerstone – through the members of its practice group, Cornerstone Climate – continues its strong track record of involvement in climate cases and of giving strategic, carbon-literate advice, including to all levels of government and internationally.
