Irresolute Clay

At a time of profound change and rethinking, this book provides insights into how environmental law in the UK has developed into its current form, and considers challenges it will face in the future. Irresolute Clay is not a legal history or textbook, nor a conventional set of legal memoirs. Instead it offers a personal account of the inside stories as experienced by one of the key architects of contemporary environmental law. Taking a thematic approach, it charts fundamental tenets of the subject (such as environmental sanctions, the European dimension, developing the academic discipline of environmental law, and environmental courts and tribunals), from the beginnings of the modern environmental law era in the 1970s to the present day.

“An illuminating and empathetic account of a formative era in British environmental law by one of the founding fathers of the subject.” –  Liz Fisher, Professor of Environmental Law, University of Oxford

“Environmental law supremo ... The tone is moderate. The mixture is dizzying.” –  Richard Gordon QC, Brick Court Chambers

“Institutional memory is notoriously lacking among policy makers – ministerial and official – in Whitehall. So, as the UK gets ready to “take back control” of environmental law from the EU, Richard Macrory provides invaluable insights into how that law developed.” –  Jill Rutter, Institute for Government

“Magisterial and magnificent, the father of environmental law in the UK on its making.” –  Philippe Sands QC, Professor of Law, University College London