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ARTICLE · 17 JUNE 2015

Environmental Sentencing: Bringing The Message Home

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The Court of Appeal has held that the previous level of fines in a large number of environmental cases was not adequate to bring the appropriate message home to company directors and shareholders.

United KingdomEnvironment
Anne Davies
Anne Davies
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The Court of Appeal, in its first judgment covering the sentencing of 'very large organisations' since the Environmental Sentencing Guideline ('ESG') came into force last year, has held that the previous level of fines in a large number of environmental cases was not adequate to bring the appropriate message home to company directors and shareholders, and therefore for the most serious cases a substantial increase in the level of fines would usually be appropriate. The Judgment should immediately be read by organisations who may be affected by the ESG. This summary can only attempt to convey the very powerful, clear and uncompromising message from the Court of Appeal.

In R v Thames Water Utilities Limited [2015] EWCA Crim 960, the court had to consider an appeal against the amount of the fine imposed on the operator of a sewage pumping station ('TWU') from which untreated sewage was discharged into a brook over the course of a week in 2012. Following a guilty plea by

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