Under current provisions, if an NGO, civil society group or individual is successful in a judicial review, the unsuccessful public authority will generally pay the winner’s legal costs. Photograph: CollinsAn Taisce, the conservation charity, has issued a call to arms asking people to object to the Government’s plans to introduce “unlawful, undemocratic, and unfair” caps on legal costs for judicial review challenges. The organisation, which receives some State funding for non-advocacy matters, said a narrative has formed against the use of judicial review by individuals and environmental non-governmental organisations (eNGOs). Organisations and members of the public can challenge public decisions by invoking the High Court’s judicial review mechanism, which involves judges testing whether a decision is legally sound. “The objective of the proposal is to bring greater predictability and proportionality to the State’s legal costs in environmental judicial reviews.

Source: The Irish Times January 12, 2026 13:27 UTC