Patrick Laverty t/a RGC International and Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, The Environment and Heritage Service Department
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | Girvan LJ |
| Judgment Date | 15 February 2010 |
| Neutral Citation | [2010] NICA 10 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
| Year | 2010 |
| Date | 15 February 2010 |
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Neutral Citation No. [2010] NICA 10 Ref:
GIR7740
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
15/2/10
(subject to editorial corrections)*
IN HER MAJESTY’S COURT OF APPEAL IN NORTHERN IRELAND
_______
ON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
IN NORTHERN IRELAND
QUEEN’S BENCH DIVISION
______
Between:
PATRICK LAVERTY t/a RGC INTERNATIONAL
Plaintiff/Respondent;
and
DEPARTMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT FOR NORTHERN IRELAND
THE ENVIRONMENT AND HERITAGE SERVICE DEPARTMENT
Defendant/Appellant.
______
MORGAN LCJ, GIRVAN LJ AND COGHLIN LJ
_______
GIRVAN LJ
Introduction
[1] These proceedings arise out of the transportation of waste by the
respondent from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland. The question
which arises is one of statutory interpretation, the question being whether
Article 72 of the Waste and Contaminated Land (Northern Ireland) Order
1997 (“the 1997 Order”) empowers an authorised officer of the appellant
Department to remove from the roadside and take to another place a vehicle
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carrying waste and to retain the vehicle in order to carry out an examination
and investigation of the waste on a container carried by the vehicle. Mr
Simpson QC appeared with Mr Hopley QC on behalf of the appellant. Mr
O’Hara QC appeared with Mr Shields on behalf of the respondent.
Factual background
[2] The respondent, Patrick Laverty, who trades as RGC International
from Ballymena, County Antrim is involved primarily in the transportation of
waste to various recycling sites in Northern Ireland. He is a registered carrier
of controlled waste for the purposes of the 1997 Order. On 20 September 2004
two of his vehicles, Registration Number HKZ2145 and HKZ2148 were
transporting waste from Dublin to Belfast. At around noon the two vehicles
were stopped by a police constable near Banbridge, Co Down. The police
constable was accompanied by officials of the Environmental Heritage
Service, a branch of the appellant Department. The two vehicles were
conveyed by EHS officers to a facility in Portadown for the purpose of
examining the waste contents of the vehicles. The respondent’s drivers did
not accompany the vehicles to the facility whose location was not revealed to
the drivers or to the respondent.
[3] On 21 September 2004 another of the respondent’s vehicles
Registration Number HKZ2144 was also transporting waste from Dublin to
Belfast. It was likewise stopped by a police constable accompanied by EHS
officials and it was also taken by the appellant’s officials and conveyed to a
facility for examination, the location of which was again not revealed to the
respondent or the respondent’s drivers. Neither the respondent nor any of
his employees was permitted to be present at the examination. No written
notification or justification for these actions was provided to the respondent at
the time at which the vehicles and contents were taken away from the
roadside by the EHS officials.
[4] On 24 September 2004 the respondent’s legal advisers contacted the
appellant’s Waste and Contaminated Land Unit referring to the lack of
written notification or explanation. On 22 September 2004 the respondent’s
legal advisers were informed by the appellant in a phone call from an official
that the vehicles were detained in exercise of powers under Article 72 of the
Order.
[5] On 22 September 2004 the vehicles Registration Numbers HKZ2145
and 2148 were inspected and samples of the waste taken photographed by
officials of the appellant. On 23 September 2004 vehicle HKZ2144 was
similarly inspected and samples taken. The appellant’s officials were not
satisfied with the type, composition and quality of the waste stream in the
vehicles inspected.
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