A working party led by a senior judge has called on the government to liberalise the costs rules to make it easier for parties to make challenges under environmental law.

Under the Aarhus Convention, the government is obliged to provide inexpensive procedures for challenging development plans that could damage the environment. Earlier this year, the European Commission warned the UK that it was not complying with the convention because costs in environmental cases remained prohibitive. Lord Justice Sullivan’s working party on access to environmental justice this week condemned the current system, under which claimants can face huge costs if their claims fail.

The working party called for the adoption of ‘qualified one way costs shifting’ in environmental cases, a measure recommended by Lord Justice Jackson in his review of civil litigation costs. The change would mean that claimants would not have to pay defendants’ costs if they lose a case.

The party said claimants should only be ordered to pay the costs of any other party if they had ‘acted unreasonably’ in bringing or conducting the proceedings.