A LEADING legal body has supported calls for a dedicated environmental court or tribunal in Scotland.
The Faculty of Advocates has put its weight behind a charity-backed campaign calling for an more effective forum for deciding environmental cases.
It was responding to a consultation paper made on the matter, which also called for the court to sit at venues around the country, rather than have a fixed base.
The independent body, which represents the country's most senior lawyers, said it was "desirable" for Scotland to have the dedicated environmental tribunal or court.
Its said: "it is important that issues of legality, including issues arising from environmental law, in relation to proposed developments should be dealt with in a timely efficient and cost-effective manner, so that proposals which are not lawful are not implemented but also so that, if a development proposal is lawful, it is not delayed unduly by the legal process."
In a recent announcement, the Lord President suggested an Energy and Natural Resources Court within the Court of Session but which could sit outside Edinburgh as required.
This was also supported by the Faculty in the consultations, saying: "That proposal has been welcomed by Friends of the Earth Scotland and is supported by the Faculty.
"Given the close link between energy and environmental issues - evident most obviously in the context of renewables - it would be natural to include environmental law within the jurisdiction of that Court."
The Faculty suggested that sheriff court buildings around the country or other public buildings could be used for hearings.
The proposal was originally put forward by Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) and the Environmental Law Centre Scotland (ELCS), who campaign for greater access for environmental justice in Scotland.
Friends of the Earth Scotland (FoES) said the court would allow individuals, communities and NGOs have more involvement in planning decisions which affect the environments, such as the construction of power stations, bridges, roads and golf courses.
The move would be steps towards compliance with the Aarhus Convention, an international treaty that enshrines rights of participation, information and access to justice in environmental matters.
Under the Aarhus Convention countries are required to have processes to assist challenges to decision-making which are "fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive" and which provide "adequate and effective" remedies.
FoES has said that legal aid should be available to community groups, rather than to individuals within community groups, which was also supported by the Faculty of Advocates.
The Faculty also suggested that in cases of significant public interest, an individual or community group should be able to recover expenses from a developer or public authority, even if they lose the case.
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