EEC law and funding for objectors at public inquiries

Whether objectors at public inquiries should receive any public funding has been a thorny question high on the political agenda during major inquiries such as those at Windscale in 1977 and Sizewell in 1982-5. Despite initiatives taken in some other countries, the Government has to date resisted the idea of any sort of funding in the UK. In a recent application for judicial review, objectors at an inquiry attempted to force the issue by employing an ingenious interpretation of EEC environmental law.