Insolvency and Environmental Principles: A Case Study in a Conflict of Public Interests

Abstract

Although the American courts are well versed in the increasingly frequent collision of environmental law and insolvency law, in English law the conflict between the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Insolvency Act 1986 has only recently produced a trilogy of decisions. The inconsistent resolutions provided by the judgments in these cases offer little in the way of guidance to the Environment Agency and other interested parties. In this article the authors examine the shortcomings presented by resolutions which prioritise either insolvency or environmental law principles and argue that the public interest is likely to be better served by an attempt at compromise.