[PRESS STATEMENT] UN Special Rapporteur Applies to be Admitted as Amicus Curiae in “Deadly Air” Case.

Date: 15/06/2020


Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) is representing the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (Special Rapporteur), in his application to be admitted as amicus curiae in the matter of The Trustees for the Time Being of Groundwork Trust & 1 other v the Minister of Environmental Affairs & 4 others .

The Trustees for the Time Being of Groundwork Trust & 1 other v the Minister of Environmental Affairs & 4 others concerns the toxic levels of ambient air pollution caused by coal-fired power generation projects in the Highveld priority area, situated in Mpumalanga. The Applicants  in the main matter seek an order, inter alia, declaring that the levels of air pollution in the area are in breach of the constitutional right to an environment that is not harmful to health or well-being and an order declaring that the Minister has a legal duty to prescribe regulations to give legal effect to the Highveld air quality management plan.

Special Rapporteurs are independent human rights experts with mandates to report and advise on human rights from a thematic perspective. The mandate on Human Rights and the Environment was established by the UN Human Rights Council in March 2012 under Resolution 19/10. David Boyd was appointed to the position August 2018. His mandate, among other things, is to study human rights obligation relating to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment and to promote best practices relating to the use of human rights in environmental policy making.

The Special Rapporteur intends to enter the matter as an amicus curiae in order to guide the court’s understanding of the nature and extent of State obligations in safeguarding the enjoyment of human rights from environmental harm. The applicant intends to advance submissions regarding the South African State’s international human rights law obligations which arise from international treaties ratified by South Africa and other instruments such as declarations, principles, and decisions of international treaty bodies, regional and international courts. The applicant intends to adduce relevant evidence, based on expert opinion on the adverse impacts of air pollution and the enjoyment of human rights. The case represents an important development in South African jurisprudence around international environmental obligations of the State and is only the second time the Special Rapporteur has entered into potentially precedent-setting national litigation.

The application of the Special Rapporteur to be admitted as amicus curiae will be heard, remotely, in the Pretoria High Court on 29 June 2020.

For more information please contact Robin Lenahan at robin@lhr.org.za. 

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