Environment laws 'needing reform'

Inadequate fines failed to deter large companies, the report said

Major reforms are needed in the way environmental damage is handled by the British courts, a legal charity says.

The Environmental Justice Project said many people are deterred from seeking justice for claims of pollution because of exorbitant costs.

The report called for environmental tribunals to be set up in which each side would pay their own costs.

It complained that courts are failing to take criminal pollution offences seriously, with inadequate fines.

The lack of substantial fines meant there were no deterrent for big corporations, it said.

The project is part of the UK charity Environmental Law Foundation, which promotes limiting environmental damage through legal and technical expertise.

The foundation provides advice on how the law can help resolve environmental problems such as pollution.

'Rights denied'

It said in its report, being launched by former environment minister Michael Meacher on Wednesday, that a recent United Nations' convention recognised the right of citizens to be protected from environmental damage through the justice system.

That right is being denied in Britain, the report claimed.

The project found that many civil complaints about pollution or other damage did not make it to court, because current rules require the losing side to pay the legal costs of the winners as well as their own.

For individuals, that often means putting their homes or businesses at risk.

The report is calling for special environmental tribunals to be set up in which each side would pay their own costs - a system used in claims against employers.