Access to Environmental Justice

That the Parliament believes that Scotland remains in breach of the access to justice requirements contained in Article 9(4) of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention) owing to the prohibitive cost of court proceedings in environmental cases; considers that reforms are essential in order to ensure that groups and individuals can pursue environmental litigation and enforce the human right to a healthy environment, which, it understands, the Scottish Government has committed to incorporate as part of its proposed Human Rights Bill; understands that, in October 2021, the Aarhus Convention’s governing bodies adopted Decision VII/8s, requiring the Scottish Government to produce, before 1 October 2024, an Action Plan outlining how it would address their recommendations to achieve compliance with Article 9(4); welcomes the Scottish Government’s acknowledgement that it is not in full compliance and its subsequent commitments to review the allocation of costs in court procedures (the Protective Expenses Orders regime) and to reform legal aid; considers that these measures, when implemented, will be vital steps towards increasing access to justice; believes that the Scottish Government has made limited progress on delivering on these ambitions to date; considers that the Scottish Government has failed to amend the time limits for judicial review, to review retrospective planning permission, or to reform procedures in the sheriff courts relating to litter, as recommended by the Convention’s governing bodies, and urges the Scottish Government, as a matter of urgency, to undertake action to meet the recommendations of Decision VII/8s and to ensure full compliance with the access to justice requirements of the Aarhus Convention.