Dr. Peter Doran:

I will give an example from a leading authority in environmental law who contributed to the scrutiny stage of the UK legislation. He said parliament had become fond of imposing duties of a kind which, since they were of a general and indefinite character, were perhaps to be considered as political duties rather than as legal duties which a court could enforce. He also said many such duties might be found in statutes concerned with social services and nationalisation. He further said that only in the unlikely event of its total default would an authority be at risk of legal compulsion in respect of its general duties. Mr. Forsyth went on to consider the question of the duty on the Minister.