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Background
1. In October 2005, the European Court of Justice ( ECJ) ruled that the UK had failed to transpose adequately certain aspects of Council Directive 92/43/ EEC on the conservation of natural habitats and of wild fauna and flora (the Habitats Directive) into domestic legislation (Case C-6/04). Until now many of these obligations have been delivered through policies and guidance without specific legislative transposition and by means of general legal duties.
2. The legislative vehicle for transposition of the Habitats Directive in the UK is the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 ("the Habitats Regulations"). Principally in light of Case C-6/04 (and also in light of case C-131/05 relating to trade in endangered species) Scottish Ministers have decided to amend the 1994 Habitats Regulations to provide accurate and effective transposition of the Habitats Directive.
3. The ruling for Case C-6/04 can be viewed at:
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/lex/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62004J0006:EN:HTML
4. The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994 amended the Habitats Regulations in Scotland following a consultation exercise that was carried out in March 2003 on how to better transpose the Habitats Directive. This current consultation is being carried out following the ECJ rulings mentioned above which have further broadened the scope of required amendments to the Habitats Regulations.
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