Court demands end to 20-year air quality scandal that hides in plain sight
“We wanted this legal action to inspire action and collaboration that endures both inside the Courts and outside of it. The diesel case achieved that.”
Issue:
Air pollution causes the deaths of around 800 people every year in Northern Ireland. That’s the equivalent of two 747 airplanes full of passengers dying prematurely due to the negative health impact caused by poor air quality.
Yet, the annual vehicle test still doesn’t check the emissions pouring out of the estimated half a million diesel cars on NI’s roads. Despite a law – dating from 2006 – that says that’s exactly what needs to happen. An entire generation of children in the north of Ireland have grown up breathing in the very emissions that they were supposed to be protected from.
Ideas:
Investigative journalists had already drawn the public’s attention to this scandalous failure in a BBC NI Spotlight episode broadcast in 2018. The programme’s revelations, that Prof. Robert Lee branded ‘utterly shocking’ and ‘virtually criminal’, prompted a member of the public to pick up the phone in horror.
That call to the office of the Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People (NICCY) triggered a ripple effect that would unite lawyers, young people and human rights defenders in an eight-year legal battle.
When the Department for Infrastructure responded to letters from both NICCY and Friends of the Earth NI confirming that it was indeed still not testing diesel emissions from private cars and had no intention of restarting, Friends of the Earth NI’s lawyer Laura Neal started to build a coalition of support:
“…For me, that’s the best form of strategic litigation where you’re not just getting lots of environmental organisations – you’re getting a broad spectrum of civil society. That makes it ‘public interest’.”
As a PILS member organisation, Friends of the Earth NI were able to apply for multiple support services, each designed to boost the case’s momentum as the legal challenge evolved:
- In 2019, barrister Aidan McGowan prepared a detailed legal opinion for Friends of the Earth NI, outlining the relevant legislations and the merits of the case. This was the start of a pro bono collaboration that endures to this day!
- While the legislative breach was clear for all to see, Friends of the Earth NI also needed scientific expertise to bolster their legal arguments. PILS’ Litigation Fund covered the cost of an expert report, drafted by Dr Mark Miller. Based at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Dr Miller studies the effects of air pollutants on the cardiovascular system and his knowledge formed a central part of FoE’s argument.
The COVID pandemic stalled the case for several reasons. Not only were the courts working their way through the resulting case backlog, MOT testing had been suspended as the centres themselves morphed into COVID testing areas.
In 2023, the case was revived and the launch of the PILS podcast miniseries ‘Holding Our Breath’ took listeners inside the case.
Concerned by the impact the impact of toxic air on young people, NICCY intervened in the court case to highlight the connection between children’s rights and environmental wellbeing.
“…Children live will live longest with the climate crisis with the environmental harm that we’re doing to our planet. They feel very strongly about this, they are the first generation are going to be hugely impacted by environmental degradation and climate change. So I’m really pleased that we’ve been able to intervene,.”
– Alex Tennant, (then) Head of Policy and Participation, NICCY
Impact:
In a judgment handed down on 03 July 2026, Mr Justice Adrian Colton held that DfI was in breach of Regulation 12 of the Motor Vehicle Testing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 and article 61 of the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1995.
Notably, the judgment states, at para. [169], “…from the court’s perspective it is impossible to avoid the conclusion that there is a lack of political will and urgency to deal with this crucial issue.”
The High Court’s decision means that the Department must make progress and, to quote the judgment at para. [171], implement its plans with “urgency and expedition”. A failure to do so will result in future legal action.
[para. 172] The court has no doubt that the advocacy and persistence of the applicant (and the intervener) in this case have ensured this item remains at the forefront of the Department’s consideration. These proceedings demonstrate this clearly.
In the wake of the decision, the case continues to attract media attention.
In October 2026, the Belfast Telegraph’s headline reminded readers of the stark reality faced by everyone in NI every time we step outside: “Diesel emissions not properly tested in MOT tests, court finds, after environmental challenge over deadly air pollution.”
In Our Own Words testimony:
I think it’s very important that young people don’t get cynical. I think a lot of adults can be quite cynical about politics and think that things are never going to change. It’s really important that you hold on to your anger and your frustration and challenge, channel it in a way that allows us to try and lies us all to work together to try and bring about change.
– Alex Tennant, (then) Head of Policy and Participation, NICCY
We wanted this legal action to inspire action and collaboration that endures both inside the Courts and outside of it. The diesel case achieved that…
The government were found to have acted unlawfully in failing to test the emissions of diesel cars at state run MOT testing. Not only that, the Court underscored the case as being a case about air quality that was firmly in the public interest which went against the narrative set by the government that this was “just” a vehicle testing case. Were it not for the case and the long route it took through the Courts, we would never have held the government to account for its actions.
– Laura Neal, Lawyer, Friends of the Earth NI