IRISH LAWYERS are being urged to get involved in taking a landmark legal action to force radical reforms in the EU Common Fisheries Policy, in the interest of conserving threatened marine species such as cod.
The initiative is being taken by US environmental lawyer James Thornton, whose organisation, Client Earth, specialises in taking legal cases where the environment, public health or wildlife are endangered by public policy.
In January 2009, he was selected by the New Statesmanas one of 10 people who could change the world, having established himself as a driving force in taking lawsuits in the US to enforce environmental laws there. Mr Thornton believes barristers here are well placed to assist in this type of work on a voluntary basis. He will be speaking at a legal seminar in the Distillery Building, Church Street, Dublin today.
“Lawyers in Ireland have a lot of free time in the year and we’re hoping to get them to give some of that for the ‘pro bono’ causes we’re involved in,” he said.
Mr Thornton, who is an Irish citizen, said one of Client Earth’s main programmes is to replace quotas under the Common Fisheries Policy with a new system of fishing credits, to encourage fishermen to catch plentiful species.
Other programmes include preventing illegally harvested rainforest timber entering the EU and corporate transparency.