Thanks to the generosity of our donors, Badger Crowd have supported five Judicial Review applications against aspects of badger culling policy since 2018 with multiple substantive hearings and appeals. These JR’s have forced DEFRA and Natural England to make changes safeguarding badgers and other wildlife, and forced Defra and Natural England to reveal information surrounding their decision making process, and highlighted the frailty of their decisions and positions.
Case 1. 2017/18: This challenge claimed that to keep culling badgers after a four-year cull was an unlawful, unproven approach to bTB control. This secured a expectation for Defra to ‘adapt and learn’ from the badger culling outcomes.
Case 2. 2018: This challenge claimed that safeguards to nature reserves from ecological damage following badger removal were inadequate. This challenge forced Natural England to design detailed measures to scrutinize systems to consider the impact of badger culling in their licensing procedure.
Case 3. 2018: This contested several issues relating to the 2018 Low Risk Area (LRA) badger culling policy, the Cumbria LRA 2018 Licence specifically. This case was reluctantly dropped as legal advice was (from cases 1 & 2) that Government were entitled to follow the advice of their expert advisors.
Case 4. 2022: This challenged the continuing and long-term neglect of potential impacts on a wide range of potentially impacted habitats and species. The case also highlighted Natural England’s pitiful contribution to the monitoring of nature for management and protection purposes.
Case 5. 2024: This challenged the DEFRA consultation to ‘evolve’ the badger control policy issued March 2024 on plans to continue badger culling using a so-called ‘targeted’ approach. Following the change of government in July 2024, the consultation on targeted culling was scrapped in August 2024.
Badger Crowd has not managed to stop the badger culls, but has brought Government to account in England over the last 8 years. As of September 2024, there are no legal challenges running. But we frequently seek legal advice on further potential points of law and so incur legal costs. If you would like to make a personal donation to the Badger Crowd legal work, then Badger Trust Sussex will accept donations and can reclaim gift aid. Please email secretary@badgertrust-sussex.org.uk for further information.
Thank You!