A decision to allow badger culling in Northern Ireland has been ruled unlawful in the High Court, with a union calling the move a 'major blow' to farmers.
In a judgment handed down this week, it was ruled that the 2021 consultation into the decision to allow the cull of up to 4,000 free-roaming badgers a year was unlawful.
The resulting decision to control the spread of bTB by allowing farmer-led groups to shoot badgers was also unlawful and the policy has been quashed.
The legal challenge to the Department of Agriculture (DAERA) was brought on by Wild Justice and Northern Ireland Badger Group (NIBG).
The Judge, Mr Justice Scoffield, agreed with anti-culling campaigners that the 2021 DAERA consultation did not meet the requirements for a lawful consultation.
He said DAERA had "failed to comply with the requirements of a fair and lawful consultation by failing to provide consultees with sufficient information about the basis for its proposed decision to permit them…to engage meaningfully with the department’s thinking."
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) said the ruling would be a 'major blow' for Northern Ireland's livestock farmers, as levels of bovine TB reached record levels in April.
The union warned that it could now 'take years' before the issue of TB reservoir in wildlife was addressed.
UFU president David Brown said: "Farm families have been on their knees due to this disease for generations, and they are desperate for a successful strategy that will tackle TB in all its hosts ensuring healthy cattle and healthy wildlife.
“This setback is the last thing our members needed. It’s vital that in moving forward DAERA learns from this outcome, and that they reevaluate and amend their process in line with the Judge’s comments to get this over the line next time around.
"We will continue to work with DAERA and other stakeholders to move past this to deliver a sustainable and workable solution to protect cattle and wildlife from this disease.”
Following the ruling, Wild Justice said: “We are obviously thrilled that DAERA’s policy to allow a non-selective cull of badgers by farmer-led groups has been quashed.
"DAERA may try again to implement a similar policy and we stand ready to challenge any proposal that fails to comply with due consideration of not just public law, but also of the scientific evidence and welfare aspects associated with such action."
It comes after the NFU recently asked the UK government to keep wildlife control as an option in battling bovine TB after Labour confirmed it would ban culling.
The union met with Lord Benyon, Minister of State for Defra, to stress the need for the government’s continued bTB eradication strategy to be based on 'sound scientific evidence'.
