When environmental groups go to court, they face two handicaps: fear of the cost, and something in the judicial psyche that cannot conceive of nature being superior to economic interests. There have been few clearer examples of this than in the battles to save Lappel Bank on the Medway Estuary in Kent from reclamation. However, the final decision on the Bank, which will be given by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), may signal a turn in the tide.
Regina v Secretary of State for the Environment, ex parte: Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Reference for a preliminary ruling: House of Lords - United Kingdom.
Directive 79/409/EEC on the conservation of wild birds - Directive 92/43/EEC on the conservation of the natural habitats of wild fauna and flora - Delimitation of Special Protection Areas - Discretion enjoyed by the Member States - Economic and social considerations -Lappel Bank.
