Baker Consultants

Supreme Court Morge v Hampshire County Council judgement published

The Supreme Court yesterday published the judgement on Morge v Hampshire County Council and in doing so has provided some useful comment and clarification relating to European protected species and the Habitats Directive.

The Supreme Court has published the judgement on Morge (FC) (Appellant) v Hampshire County Council (Respondent).

This judgement has been eagerly anticipated by the ecology industry as the case addressed two key issues relating to the European protected species (in this case bats):

The first issue relates to the meaning of obligation under the Habitats Directive to prohibit “deliberate disturbance”, while the second concerns the scope of the obligation on planning authorities to have regard to the requirements of the Habitats Directive.

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal (4:1 majority) and in doing so has provided some useful comment and clarification on these contentious issues.

The full judgement is attached or can be found at https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2010-0120.html

UKSC_2010_0120_Judgment