R v Hertfordshire County Council, ex parte Green Environmental Industries Ltd and another
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 30 July 1997 |
| Date | 30 July 1997 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Justice Beldam, Lord Justice Peter Gibson and Lord Justice Waller
Waste disposal - regulatory authority - power to obtain information
Powers under section 71(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 enabled a waste regulation authority to obtain information that it reasonably considered it needed. The mere fact that the provision of the information might assist the authority to establish a criminal offence against the provider of the information could not have been intended to provide a reasonable excuse for not providing it.
One main purpose of providing a waste regulation authority with the powers under section 71 must have been to enable it to collect information which would provide evidence in a criminal prosecution.
That that was what Parliament intended could be further deduced from the fact that under section 69 the offence for non-compliance was also "failure without reasonable excuse". It seemed clear, in the light of section 69(8), that it was not intended in that context that self-incrimination should be a reasonable excuse. "Reasonable excuse" seemed unlikely to mean something different in section 71.
The Court of Appeal so held in a reserved judgment dismissing an appeal by Green Environmental Industries Ltd and Mr John Moynihan from the dismissal by the Queen's Bench Divisional Court on July 12, 1996, of an application for judicial review on the grounds, inter alia, that the powers under section 71 could not lawfully be invoked for the purpose of conducting investigations into alleged criminal conduct.
Section 69 of the 1990 Act provides: "(1) An inspector may…exercise any of the powers specified in subsection (3) below for the purpose of - (a) discharging any functions conferred or imposed…on the secretary of state…a waste regulation authority or on the inspector…
"(3) The powers of an inspector…are (a) at any reasonable time…to enter premises which he has reason to believe it is necessary for him to enter…
"(8) No answer given by a person in pursuance of a requirement imposed under subsection 3(i) above shall be admissible in evidence in England and Wales against that person in any proceedings…"
Section 71 provides: "(2) For the purpose of the discharge of their respective functions…(a) the secretary of state, and (b) a waste regulation authority, may, by...
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C Plc v P (Attorney General intervening)
...for the purpose of DNA testing.” 29 Later English decisions have also confirmed this distinction. In R v Hertfordshire County Council, ex parte Green Environmental Industries Ltd [2000] 2 AC 412, 421G Lord Hoffmann said:— “English law does not regard the use of evidence obtained in conseque......