THIS IS PART OF A POST FROM LEGAL JUSTICE. IT IS LENGTHY AND IN FULL CAN BE READ ON THEIR SITE. IT IS FULL OF INFORMATION AND WORTH THE READ
Good morning! News today on gamebird releases in England and Wales, some information about our finances, a heads-up on lead ammunition and a reminder of a petition that many of you have already signed (but there are subscribers joining us all the time).
Licensing of gamebird releases (England): we have been investigating the process that Defra has used to issue licences for gamebird (Pheasant and Red-legged Partridges) releases in or near sites designated by the UK government as Special Protection Areas. Our concern is that Defra ministers have not followed Natural England's advice and that their reasons may be irrational, unfounded or flawed.
On Monday 23 October we sent Defra a Pre-Action Protocol letter on this matter (that's the first formal step towards, perhaps, a judicial review of the lawfulness of a decision by a public body), at 5pm on Wednesday 25 October we had a discussion with our lawyers on next steps having had a holding response from Defra saying that one of the licences had been granted nearly three months previously meaning we were almost at the deadline for judicial review, and so by early afternoon on Friday 27 October we had taken the next stage and filed papers with the court on a protective basis. We haven't done that before, so let us explain.
We have good reason to believe that Defra has made an unlawful decision but there are bits of the picture missing, largely because of delays in Defra servicing information requests, and so we have filed our claim on the basis that we will have to see the requested information before we finally decide whether or not to go ahead. Some of that information arrived yesterday and we don't regret pressing ahead. You'll be surprised, or maybe not, on where Defra has got its advice on which to reject Natural England's advice. There is a lot more work to do. We'll keep you informed.
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