Dr. Peter Doran:

There is an example in the submission about fuel poverty targets. Friends of the Earth attempted to take a judicial review because targets were included in the legislation and that was thrown out for much the same reason I outlined, that it was simply regarded as a support to an objective. Targets often include issues that are not in the immediate control of the Minister. The circumstances are not always within the gift of the Minister to control and the courts tend to recognise this in the event of there being challenges, or at least that is the view of the lawyers who contributed to the scrutiny.