Case status: Findings adopted on 12.03.2019 – No non-compliance found; see para. 10 of Decision VII/8 on general issues of compliance.
Follow-up: -
Topics: Public participation.
Articles alleged: 6 (3), 6 (4); 7.
Articles considered by the Committee: 6 (2)–(4), 6 (6), 6 (8); 7.
Articles, if any, found in non-compliance: -
Summary: On 15 April 2014, High Speed 2 Action Alliance Limited, a non-governmental organization, the London Borough of Hillingdon, and Charlotte Jones, a member of the public submitted a communication to the Compliance Committee alleging a failure by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to comply with its obligations under article 7 generally, and article 7 in conjunction with article 6 (3) and (4) of the Convention. Specifically, the communicants alleged that the Party concerned failed to ensure public participation in relation to the decisions issued in the Command Paper “High Speed Rail: Investing in Britain’s Future – Decisions and Next Steps”, which sets out the strategy of the Party concerned for the promotion, construction and operation of a new “Y”-shaped high-speed railway from London to the West Midlands, Manchester and Leeds known as High Speed.
| Document | Status | Date received or posted by the secretariat |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary determination of admissibility | ||
|
Covering letter |
From the communicant | 15.04.2014 |
| Letter forwarding communication to the Party concerned | From the secretariat | 09.09.2014 |
| Letter to communicant | From the secretariat | 09.09.2014 |
|
Covering letter Additional annexes Annex 1 Command Paper High Speed Rail Investing in Britain's Future - Decisions and Next Steps (Cm 8247) (January 2012) |
From the Party concerned | 09.02.2015 |
| Comments on the Party's response | From the communicant | 17.03.2015 |
| Letter to communicants seeking clarification of second communicant's status | From the secretariat | 20.05.2015 |
| Reply to the Committee's questions regarding status of second communicant | From the communicants | 04.06.2015 |
| Letter informing of the Committee's determination regarding London Borough of Hillingdon | From the secretariat | 07.08.2015 |
| Statement | From observer (Ms. Boman-Behram) | 29.08.2015 |
| Email regarding scheduling of Committee's discussion | From the Party concerned | 29.09.2015 |
| Comments on Party concerned's request regarding scheduling of Committee's discussion | From the communicants | 30.09.2015 |
| Letter regarding scheduling of Committee's discussion | From the Party concerned | 02.10.2015 |
| Letter regarding scheduling of Committee's discussion | From the communicants | 04.10.2015 |
| Email to Parties regarding scheduling of Committee's discussion | From the secretariat | 04.11.2015 |
| Letters inviting Party concerned and communicants to hearing at Committee's 52nd meeting | From the secretariat | 09.02.2016 |
| Additional information Annex A: Chronology Annex B: List of Annexes Annex 41: Respondent’s Statement of Case before the Supreme Court Annex 42(i): ACCC/C/2006/16 (Lithuania): Addendum to the Compliance Committee Report, (ECE/MP.PP/2008/5/Add.6) Annex 42(ii): Excerpt from the addendum to the report of the fifth session of the Meeting of the Parties (ECE/MP.PP/2014/Add.1) Annex 42(iii): Extract from the second draft of the revised Guide to the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee Annex 43(i): De Wiles, Ooms and Versyp v Belgium [1971] ECHR 1 Annex 43(ii): The Interhandel Case (Switzerland v United States) [1959] I.C.J. Rep 6 Annex 44(i): R v North and East Devon Health Authority, Ex parte Coughlan [2001] QB 213 Annex 44(ii): Walton v Scottish Ministers [2012] UKSC 44 Annex 45: High Speed Rail Strategic Alternatives Study. Strategic Alternatives to the Proposed ‘Y’ Network (February 2011) |
From the Party concerned | 25.02.2016 |
| Statement | From observer (Mr. Landells) | 04.03.2016 (dated 22.02.2016) |
| Opening statement for hearing at Committee's 52nd meeting | From the Party concerned | 10.03.2016 |
| Opening statement for hearing at Committee's 52nd meeting | From the communicant | 10.03.2016 |
| Joint statement for hearing at Committee's 52nd meeting | From observers (Ms. Boman-Behram and Mr. Landells) | 10.03.2016 |
| Letter to the parties enclosing questions from the Committee | From the secretariat | 26.09.2016 |
| Statement | From observer (Ms. Rispin) | 21.10.2016 |
| From the communicant | 28.10.2016 | |
| Reply to Committee's questions | From the Party concerned | 31.10.2016 |
| Comments on communicant's reply to Committee's questions | From the Party concerned | 11.11.2016 |
| Comments on Party concerned's reply to Committee's questions | From the communicant | 11.11.2016 |
|
Annex 1: Speech at HS2 Select Committee of the House of Lords, 29.06.2016 |
From observer (Ms. Boman-Behram) | 10.12.2016 |
| Draft findings and letters to the Party concerned and communicant inviting their comments | From the secretariat | 30.11.2018 |
| Comments on the draft findings | From the communicant | 10.01.2019 |
| Comments on the draft findings | From the Party concerned | 11.01.2019 |
| Findings ENG FRE RUS | 12.03.2019 |