Roughly translated by TWIN Observer
STOCKHOLM / TT The hunting of wolves as EPA decided to temporarily stop now. Positively, believes SSNC.
The legal developments around the wolf hunt continues. On Wednesday evening, news came that the appeals court in Stockholm decided to stop the hunt until the matter has been examined in administrative law.
The Court’s ruling comes after SSNC, Carnivores Association and the World Wildlife Fund appealed the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision.
“Now it will halt for all hunting until we get justice,” says a satisfied Mikael Karlsson, who is chairman of the SSNC.
When the judicial review will be he does not know, but it is believable that it takes place during the coming week.
“The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision was quite strongly politically dictated, even if I do not want to say it was the issue of ministerial rule. We know that the EPA is hard pressed and now we get a trial based on legislation and hopefully from an EU law actually in force in Sweden since the 1990s.”
It was January 30, which the Environmental Protection Agency decided that it would be permitted to shoot 16 wolves in eight territories.
The hunt began on Friday, February 1 and would last until 17 February. The three environmental groups appealed the decision to the Administrative Court, requesting that the hunt be stopped temporarily until the issue is resolved.
The Administrative Court rejected the claim on February 1, but now instead accepted the appeal to stop the hunt until the case is decided in administrative law court.
When the TT reached Maria Ågren, Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency, late on Wednesday night, she had just received part of the Administrative Court decision.
“We are going tomorrow morning (Thursday morning) to contact provincial governments and communicate to them to call off the hunt,” she says.
The news of the halt could mean that this year’s wolf hunting is over no matter what happens in administrative law. The EPA hunting decision applies until 17 February.
“It depends on how long the court assumes to handle and examine the issue. If it takes longer than the date we have set to end the hunt, it means there will be no hunting.”
Although EPA could win in administrative law court it is not an issue with the hunting of wolves later this winter or spring.
“It is not. We estimate that the hunt to be conducted should be carried out until halfway through February. Then it’s too late because the wolves go into a mating period and then one should not be hunting,” says Maria Ågren.