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| UK Environmental Law Association | |
|---|---|
| Name | UK Environmental Law Association |
| Abbreviation | UKELA |
| Formation | 1987 |
| Type | Non-profit organisation |
| Headquarters | London |
| Region served | United Kingdom |
UK Environmental Law Association The UK Environmental Law Association is a professional membership organisation focused on environmental law in the United Kingdom. It engages with legal practitioners, academics, policy-makers and NGOs to influence developments in statutory regimes such as the Environmental Protection Act 1990, Climate Change Act 2008, and instruments deriving from the European Union's environmental acquis such as the Habitats Directive and the Water Framework Directive. The Association provides specialist expertise relevant to forums including the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, and international bodies like the United Nations Environment Programme.
Founded in 1987, the organisation emerged amid debates over the implementation of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster's influence on regulatory thinking, and growing concern about transboundary pollution addressed by instruments such as the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. Early engagement included responses to the Rio Earth Summit outcomes and the development of the Kyoto Protocol. Over time the Association has intersected with landmark domestic cases in the House of Lords and later the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom concerning public law and environmental protection, and contributed to inquiries by the Environmental Audit Committee and the Committee on Climate Change.
The Association's stated mission is to promote the understanding, development and effective implementation of environmental law by linking practitioners from the Bar of England and Wales, members of the Law Society of England and Wales, academics from institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, London School of Economics, and representatives from NGOs including Greenpeace and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Objectives include improving access to justice in environmental matters raised before the European Court of Human Rights, enhancing statutory compliance with instruments like the Environment Act 2021, and supporting legal scholarship relevant to treaties such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Governance is vested in an elected Council drawing individuals from chambers including Matrix Chambers, firms registered with the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and university departments at University College London. Officers typically include a Chair, Treasurer and Secretary selected by voting members drawn from the membership base that spans practitioners from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, in-house counsel at bodies such as the Environment Agency (England) and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, together with students and retired judges from the High Court of Justice. Membership categories mirror professional groupings represented in the International Bar Association and provide routes for affiliation with organisations such as the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment.
The Association convenes working parties to address topics ranging from planning appeals under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to litigation strategies used in cases before the Court of Appeal of England and Wales and the European Court of Justice (ECJ). It runs training events and seminars akin to those organised by the Bar Council and the Law Commission of England and Wales, provides pro bono support aligned with programmes like the Access to Justice Act 1999 objectives, and facilitates exchanges with international bodies such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The Association produces briefings, guidance notes and conference papers addressing statutory instruments such as the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations, and compiles analyses of jurisprudence from courts including the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. Its outputs are used by practitioners appearing before tribunals like the First-tier Tribunal (Environment) and policymakers in departments such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The Association has collaborated with publishers and journals associated with Oxford University Press and the Cambridge University Press to disseminate specialist commentaries and model clauses used in commercial transactions under frameworks like the Aarhus Convention.
Through submissions to consultations by bodies such as the Environment Agency (England), the Scottish Government, and the Welsh Government, the Association has influenced the drafting and implementation of legislation including the Environment Act 2021 and statutory guidance under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. Expert members have given evidence to parliamentary inquiries chaired by figures from the House of Lords Select Committee on the Environment and have contributed to precedent-setting litigation in courts such as the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom and the Court of Justice of the European Union on issues ranging from public law remedies to compliance with the Birds Directive.
The Association partners with organisations including the Royal Society, the British Trust for Ornithology, the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, academic centres like the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and professional bodies such as the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators to host conferences, workshops and annual meetings. Regular events bring together speakers from institutions including the European Commission, the World Bank, and the International Court of Justice to discuss emerging topics such as biodiversity offsetting, emissions trading schemes influenced by the European Union Emissions Trading System, and enforcement mechanisms under conventions like the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Category:Environmental law organizations Category:Legal organisations based in the United Kingdom