Moved by
Lord Marks of Henley-on-Thames
174A: Clause 76, leave out Clause 76 and insert the following new Clause—
“Capping of costs: environmental cases
(1) This section applies to judicial review proceedings which constitute or concern an Aarhus Convention claim.
(2) Sections 71, 72 and 73 shall not apply to proceedings to which this section applies.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in sections 74 and 75, in proceedings to which this section applies the court shall make a costs capping order in favour of an applicant for judicial review of its own motion or upon the application of any party in any case where the court considers that if a costs capping order is not made the proceedings are unlikely to be fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive as required by the Aarhus Convention.
(4) Rules of court may prescribe the terms upon which a costs capping order may be made in accordance with subsection (3) provided that such terms are calculated to ensure that the proceedings will be fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive.
(5) In determining whether proceedings are likely to be fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive, the court shall have regard to any relevant reports of the Compliance Committee established pursuant to the Aarhus Convention.”