McMorn, R (on the application of) v Natural England & Anor

McMorn, R (on the application of) v Natural England & Anor

Natural England's decision to refuse the claimant's application for a licence to kill buzzards was unlawful because it was based on an undisclosed and more demanding policy for raptors, applied a higher evidential threshold than for other species without rational justification, and unlawfully took public opinion into account. This rendered the statutory derogation under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and Birds Directive excessively difficult to operate and undermined its purpose. The decision was also procedurally unfair in failing to give the claimant an opportunity to address the practicalities of live capture as an alternative. The decision was quashed on these grounds.

Parties
Claimant: Richard McMorn; Defendant: Natural England; Interested Party: Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
13 November 2015
Procedural Posture
Judicial Review / Judgment
Outcome
Decision quashed
Legal Topics
Judicial Review, Licensing, Wildlife Protection, Public Law, Policy Discretion, Aarhus Convention, EU Directives, Procedural Fairness
Administrative Law Environmental Law Wildlife Law EU Law Judicial Review Licensing Wildlife Protection Public Law +4 more

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Parties

Richard McMorn

Claimant

Natural England

Defendant

Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs

Interested Party

Procedural Posture

Judicial Review / Judgment

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Natural England unlawfully applied a higher evidential threshold to raptor licence applications than to other species
  2. 2 Whether an undisclosed or inconsistent policy was applied to the claimant's applications
  3. 3 Whether public opinion was unlawfully taken into account in the decision-making process

Ratio Decidendi

Natural England's decision to refuse the claimant's application for a licence to kill buzzards was unlawful because it was based on an undisclosed and more demanding policy for raptors, applied a higher evidential threshold than for other species without rational justification, and unlawfully took public opinion into account. This rendered the statutory derogation under the Wildlife and Countryside Act and Birds Directive excessively difficult to operate and undermined its purpose. The decision was also procedurally unfair in failing to give the claimant an opportunity to address the practicalities of live capture as an alternative. The decision was quashed on these grounds.

Court Disposition

Decision quashed

Orders

  • The decision of Natural England refusing the claimant's application for a licence to kill buzzards is quashed.
  • Natural England must reconsider the application in accordance with the law and published policy, without applying a higher evidential threshold or taking public opinion into account.