Ministerial Regulations on peat extraction are inconsistent with EU Directives

Judicial review - challenge to manner of large-scale peat extraction's regulation under national law - whether legislative amendments introduced since January 2019 are inconsistent with EU environmental law - exemption from requirement to obtain planning permission - subject to licensing by environmental protection agency - lengthy transitional period - whether period an 'enforcement holiday' - amendments by Ministerial Regulations - regularisation procedure inconsistent with environmental impact directive and habitats directive - impermissible use of secondary legislation to amend primary legislation - grounds of challenge based on strategic environmental assessment directive and interference with judicial independence not made out - legislative framework pre and post January 2019 - overview of ministerial regulations - grounds of challenge - peat extraction not subject to any development consent or operating conditions under present regulations - EU law requires there be a possibility of suspending development works and activities pending determination of an application for retrospective development consent - absence of such provision inconsistent with EIA and Habitats Directive as applied to both licenses and unlicensed peat extractions - nature of remedy to be granted - judicial 'self-restraint' - limits of Member State's discretion to provide regularisation procedure - principles and policies test and its application - form of order.