A Study of Administrative Environmental Decision-Making before the Courts

Abstract

This article presents the findings from a quantitative study of 249 judicial environmental decisions. The study finds that the courts find against claimants challenging administrative environmental law decisions by a higher margin than in other areas of administrative law (though the margin varies from court to court). The paper identifies the main reason for this in the dynamics between the ‘political’ nature of environmental law and the legal focus of judicial review. The article also finds that this variation between courts is potentially narrowing and that the rate of success enjoyed by claimants varies depending on which public authority they seek to challenge. Having presented the quantitative findings of the study, the article briefly sketches out the relevance of the type of quantitative work presented here in relation to ongoing debates on role of the courts in environmental law whilst also identifying future avenues for additional follow-up research.