source fox news: A top court in London ruled Tuesday that two residents of the tiny Caribbean island of Barbuda have the right to challenge construction of an airstrip that critics say endangers fragile ecosystems and was begun without any permits.
The ruling by the Privy Council is considered a big win for John Mussington, a marine biologist, and Jacklyn Frank, a retired teacher, who launched a legal fight against the government of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda in July 2018.
“The fact that this ruling comes almost seven years after John first discovered the bulldozing of the forest is no coincidence,” said Sarah O’Malley, an attorney with the U.K.-based nonprofit Global Legal Action Network, which helped attorneys representing the Barbudians. “Environmental activists around the globe are often bogged down with procedural impediments making litigation costly and time-consuming, a subterfuge employed by those destroying the environment for their own profit.”
However, O’Malley said the decision would make it easier for “all who seek to protect nature” to legally challenge government actions.
Hotel clubs and homes are seen on Princess Diana Beach in Barbuda on Oct. 23, 2023. A top court in London ruled on Feb. 27, 2024, that two residents of the tiny Caribbean island have the right to challenge the construction of an airport in Antigua and Barbuda. (AP Photo/Mohammid Walbrook, File)
The government of Antigua and Barbuda had argued that Mussington and Frank were “busybodies” who had no standing to mount a legal fight.
Mussington said the ruling would have “significant implications for citizens of Antigua and Barbuda who have long been suffering from the lack of transparency and accountability from key institutions and officials charged with implementing the planning laws.”
The ruling also is expected to set a precedent for other Caribbean nations fighting to protect land that wealthy foreign investors seek to develop, especially when investors seize upon economic opportunities following a catastrophe or national disaster.
A spokesperson for the office of Prime Minister Gaston Browne and a representative for the development did not respond to messages seeking comment about the decision.
The ruling by the Privy Council allows the two Barbudians to challenge an April 2021 decision by the Court of Appeal of the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court that found the residents were not allowed to take legal action against the government.
While Antigua and Barbuda obtained its independence from the U.K. in 1981, it remains under a constitutional monarchy with King Charles as its head of state and the Privy Council as its final court of appeal.
One Privy Council judge, David Hope, argued that environmental issues can be raised by someone even if they are not personally affected by a certain action. He gave an example of construction of wind turbines on a route used by an osprey.
“The osprey has no means of taking that step on its own behalf, any more than any other wild creature. If its interests are to be protected, someone has to be allowed to speak on its behalf,” he wrote.
The ongoing airport construction on Barbuda is part of a deal involving the government, the Barbuda Council and PLH (Barbuda) Ltd., established by U.S. billionaire John Paul DeJoria, co-founder of the Paul Mitchell hair products company. Also involved is U.S.-based Discovery Land Co., founded by Michael Meldman of Casamigos Tequila.
The companies plan to build 495 upscale homes, an 18-hole golf course, a beach club and a natural gas storage facility on more than 600 acres of protected wetland.
The developers began work on the airstrip around September 2017, after the government evacuated the entire island of Barbuda following Hurricane Irma, a Category 5 storm that was the strongest hurricane ever observed in the open Atlantic.
Construction began without an environmental impact assessment or a license from the Barbuda Council to clear forest, according to Global Legal Action Network. In addition, there were no public meetings notifying anyone of the construction, and an application for a development permit wasn’t submitted until after construction began.
About 400 acres that is home to the Barbuda fallow deer and red-footed tortoise already have been cleared to build the airport.
Mussington and Frank also have argued the construction could impact the island’s groundwater supply.
The airstrip is largely completed, and government officials have said that “even if the airstrip was built in violation of development control the airstrip could not be ‘unbuilt,’” according to Monday’s ruling.
The Privy Council noted that if a court finds that the government’s Development Control Authority acted outside of its power, “the remedies potentially available would include an order requiring the land be restored to its original state.”
Mussington and Frank celebrated the ruling, but Frank remained cautious. Another lawsuit filed by a fisherman and tour guide against the government of Antigua and Barbuda over construction of two private villas in a national park is pending in court.
“Despite having won, we Barbudans recognize that the fight for our land is not over,” she said. “We plan to continue to keep fighting in order to protect what is ours and preserve it all for our future generations, just as our ancestors have done for us.”
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The influence of climate change on environmental court decisions:
Climate change presents an unprecedented challenge to our legal systems, forcing courts to navigate complex scientific matters and grapple with the urgency of environmental protection. Increasingly, courts are recognizing the severity of climate change and its potentially irreversible consequences. This growing awareness is influencing judicial decision-making in environmental lawsuits, leading courts to uphold regulations aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate impacts. For instance, court decisions might place greater responsibility on corporations to curb their pollution or may prioritize the protection of vulnerable ecosystems threatened by rising sea levels and extreme weather events.
As the climate crisis worsens, courts will undeniably play a pivotal role in shaping the legal landscape surrounding environmental issues. Judges will need to balance economic development with environmental sustainability, interpreting existing laws in light of the escalating threat of climate change. These court decisions have the potential to set crucial precedents, determining the extent of government authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and the rights of individuals and communities to seek redress for climate-related harm. Moving forward, we can expect a growing body of climate-related litigation and evolving legal frameworks that will be crucial in the fight against climate change.
The stage is being set for the climate change issue to become a highly charged debate that will unite with religious powers to ensure that the entire world surrender individual rights for the supposedly “good of the majority”. Watch this SPACE CAREFULLY AND BE ALERT!
There is NO way we can escape this. It is coming and sooner than we expect.
The climate change agenda is a money grabbing scam. Meaningless science free nonsense. The climate has always changed throughout the Earth’s existence. The dinosaurs died out due to climate change. They weren’t driving cars or making international flights by aircraft. We need to concern ourselves instead with pollution and conservation as it affects land and water usage .
What an add you are. No common sense.
Barbuda and Antigua… LEADERSHIP.
to racial and discriminatory practices fail to see the full picture. Small improvements are expected and welcome. Only when people demand full emancipation, do they perceive the full extent of their submission. And they get angrier.”
@ WORLD “CRYSIS”: END SOON COME
Your comment suggests others in Antigua can take a page from this.
This case was marred by a currupt Eastern Caribbean Court system. Most Antiguans are resigned to the fact that the court costs are not sustainable.
Not only are these two Barbudans knowledge of the environment laws. They possess the tenacity and we’re not distracted by Gaston Browne demonizing them publicly.
They have extensive knowledgeable of both environmental issues as well how to make their case a cause celebrate in the international arena in order to garner support from real legal luminaries.
Antiguans can’t even recognize when they are faced with highway robbery, like in the LIAT (2020) deal with Air Peace.
They can’t even recognize the BS deals with the Chinese; but a Barbuda win at the Privy Council that took 7 plus years, is going to open their eye’s? No way Jose !
There are no such individuals or entities in Antigua.
Congratulations are in order; but this is only the first round.
Congratulations are in order, and the Barbudan Council should declare the day the two Barbudans stood up for a just cause and whipped ALP a national holiday.
The Barbudans should demand that the sites that Antigua’s Hitler allowed private investors to demolished should have them restore the sites to it original condition and order Gaston’s hooligans to leave the island.
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