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Government is obliged to financially assist citizens in legal challenges but court procedures are 'prohibitively expensive'

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The government makes it too costly for the campaign to combat environmental planning through the courts of Great Britain, Court of the United Nations warned.

The judgment, hailed as hugely important by environmental law experts, could open the door to new rules covering legal costs and encourage more individuals and community groups to take their cases to the courts.

The Aarhus Convention , Which entered into force in 2001 and was ratified in the UK in 2005, the government is obliged to provide law and remove financial barriers for citizens mount legal challenges in cases of damage to the environment - such as fighting construction of new roads, housing development and local incinerator . The convention does not cover the legal defence of environmental protesters who commit vandalism or criminal damage to highlight their cause.

But in draft findings published on Wednesday, the convention's compliance committee said the UK was failing to ensure court procedures were not "prohibitively expensive". The committee called on the UK to introduce legislation and practical measures to overcome the financial barriers to environmental justice. Such access to justice is one of the three key pillars of the convention, which also gives the public rights to access environmental information.

James Thornton, director general of environmental law on nongovernmental organizations, customers of the Earth , which brought the case to the compliance committee last year with the Marine Conservation Society, said: "These findings are game-changing for anyone fighting for their environmental rights. At the moment, the government and industries can ride roughshod over their environmental responsibilities, confident that the legal system's failings will make challenges impossible."

He continued: "If the government's word is to mean anything on the international stage, it must move effectively and decisively to remedy the gross unfairness of the UK legal system. For the first time citizens will be able to scrutinise and challenge environmental decisions from a fair position."

The UK courts are an expensive place to fight environmental cases, particularly compared with some of the other 43 European and central Asian countries that have ratified the Aarhus convention. A single day hearing in the UK can cost £100,000, said Client Earth. What's more, the combination of high legal costs of lawyers; loser pays principle; and risk of paying damages to commercial companies in the UK often deters many green campaigners from taking their cases to court in the first place.

The Environmental Law Foundation, which advises individuals and groups on environmental cases, has said nearly a third of its clients cited cost as a barrier to bringing a case to a successful conclusion. A 2007 report commissioned by the European Commission ranked the UK in the bottom five of European countries for affordable legal costs and legal aid, and warned the UK it was making it "prohibitively expensive" to mount environmental court challenges. In March this year, European environment commissioner Janez Potocnik issued Britain a "final warning" over the issue.

Georgina Downs, a British pesticides campaigner who has taken her case to the European Court of Human Rightsafter the UK courts first ruled in her favor and then overturned decision, said: "This is a very important ruling that again highlights the current failings of the UK system for obtaining access to justice for those bringing critical health and environmental challenges that are clearly in the public interest."

Polly Higgins, a lawyer who is campaigning for the destruction of ecosystems to be recognised as a crime against peace

The government now has until 22 September to comment on the draft findings, which the committee will then finalise. Though the UK cannot be fined for non-compliance, it could ultimately have its rights under the convention suspended if it continually fails to meet its obligations as a party.

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