R v Hertfordshire County Council, ex parte Green Environmental Industries Ltd & Anor [2000] UKHL 11
The point in plain English: A statutory regulator may be entitled to compel factual information even where the answers could be self-incriminating. That does not automatically decide whether the answers can later be used fairly in a criminal trial.
What the House of Lords decided
The case concerned a waste-regulation authority using section 71(2) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to require information. The House of Lords held that the statutory scheme impliedly excluded the privilege against self-incrimination at the information-gathering stage.
The court distinguished that question from admissibility at any later criminal trial. The trial court retained its ordinary powers to protect fairness, including the section 78 Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 discretion where applicable.
Why it appears on Planning Geek
This is not a planning-law judgment. Its relevance is by analogy when planning enforcement uses statutory information powers and a recipient is also concerned about possible criminal proceedings.
Planning Geek discusses that distinction on the interview under caution and planning enforcement page.
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