Government faces legal action over Sellafield

THE Irish government is facing a court action as a result of its own legal efforts to close down the controversial nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield.

The European Commission has accused the Government of breaching EU treaties over its decision to take a case against the British government on the issue of Sellafield before a UN court.

As a result the Commission has initiated a legal action which has the potential to embarrass the Government.

The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg will hear arguments by both sides on November 8 in a case that highlights the potential for conflict between jurisdictions such as the UN and the EU.

The Commission claims that Ireland failed to fulfil its obligations under the EC and Euratom treaties by going to a UN tribunal based in The Hague.

It has criticised the Irish government of instituting the proceedings against the UK without taking due account of the fact that the EU is a party to the UN Convention for the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

“By submitting the dispute to a Tribunal outside the Community legal order, Ireland has violated the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court of Justice enshrined in EU treaties,” said a

Commission statement.

However, a spokesperson for Environment Minister Dick Roche said the Government would defend its decision to initiate the case before UNCLOS at next month’s hearing in Luxembourg.

Attorney General Rory Brady, who will represent the Government in the case, is expected to argue that the Government believed UNCLOS was the appropriate and correct forum in which to raise its concerns about Sellafield.

The spokesperson said outstanding issues still being considered by UNCLOS had been adjourned pending the outcome of the hearing before the European Court of Justice.

A European Commission spokesperson was unavailable for comment yesterday. It remains unclear what sanctions the Government could face, should they lose the case.

In 2001, the Government instituted proceedings before the UN tribunal in an effort to end radioactive discharges from the MOX reprocessing plant at Sellafield.

Two years later, the UN Tribunal ruled in favour of Ireland that it had jurisdiction to hear the case. However, it also ruled that UNCLOS’ terms of reference did not allow it to consider the Government’s claims to have access to commercial information on the operation of the MOX plant.