The Upper Tribunal has allowed the Duchy of Cornwall’s appeal against the decision that it is a public authority.
The judge decided that the Duchy of Cornwall does not have any legal personality at all, unless it is being used as a reference to the Duke of Cornwall.
The Duke of Cornwall, as the harbour and lighthouse authority for the harbour at St Mary’s on the Isles of Scilly (the Harbour Authority) is a public authority for the purpose of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and Environmental Information Directive 2003/4. But, in a surprising departure from the European Court’s recent decision in Fish Legal, the Upper Tribunal decided that The Duke of Cornwall’s obligations to provide environmental information as such a public authority is limited to the environmental information he holds as the Harbour Authority.
Harrison Grant acts for Michael Bruton against whose win the Duchy was appealing. The decision can be found at Duchy Judgment Upper Tribunal