Justin Truter is a Director and Head of Environmental practice area. He also advises in the Mining & Resources, Construction & Engineering and Infrastructure & Energy practice areas. Justin specialises in constitutional law; administrative law; environmental law; land use planning law; water law; heritage resources law; and mining law. He is the former chairman of the Western Cape Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Forum. His many major matters include advising the Western Cape Provincial Government on the environmental, land use planning and heritage aspects of the 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer stadium at Green Point.
Environmental
Infrastructure & Energy
Mining & Resources
Real Estate
Constitutional law
Administrative law
Environmental law
Land use planning law
Water law
Heritage resources law
Mining law
Environmental due diligence investigations and reports.
Reviewing compliance with Environmental Management Systems and Standards including ISO 14001.
Environmental legal audits of companies and individuals to determine environmental compliance.
All aspects of environmental, water, agricultural, minerals, energy and petroleum resources, heritage resources, fisheries and land use planning legislation.
Government procurement and Tender law and all aspects of public sector legislation including the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury Regulations, Municipal Finance Management Act, Local Government: Municipal Structures Act and Municipal Systems Act.
High Court and Constitutional Court litigation; Environmental arbitration and conciliation.
Administrative appeals and objections in terms of the National Environmental Management Act, National Heritage Resources Act and Land Use Planning Ordinances.
Advising on renewable energy projects including wind energy plants, hydroelectric power stations, and solar energy projects.
Conservation Stewardship agreements.
Advising on large scale infrastructure projects locally and internationally. Projects include: various wind and solar energy projects, Wembley Stadium in the UK, the FIFA 2010 World Cup Soccer Stadium in Cape Town, advising the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town on new phases of development and a multi-million rand environmental rehabilitation, various golf and polo estates.
Renewable Energy Projects:
Conducting and reviewing environmental and land due diligence investigations in preparation for the Department of Energy's IPP bid submission for project companies and lenders;
Providing legal opinions on environmental and land related aspects of the bids;
Liaising with various national, provincial and local authorities on permitting processes and status;
Liaising with the environmental and town planning specialists involved in the permitting application phase in order to ensure that bids are ripe for submission;
Advising on the amendment and splitting of environmental authorisations in order to ensure compliance with the IPP bid requirements and
Addressing any environmental and land clarification queries arising out of the bid consideration by the Department of Energy.
In addition to his wide-ranging experience in relation to South Africa’s domestic legal regime (with a particular focus on Environmental, Constitutional and Administrative law), Justin has worked as an environmental lawyer in the United Kingdom and Finland, is familiar with the U.K. EIA Regulations and the European Commission on the Environment’s Directives; and has given advice in relation to the environmental laws of other African states including Malawi, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Tanzania.
BA LLB (Stellenbosch University)
Member of the Environmental Law Association
2009: Director, Werksmans
Ranked lawyer (Band 2) by Chambers Global | 2020 – 2022, 2024 | Environment
Ranked as a leading Environmental lawyer by Best Lawyers International
Lead counsel to the Provincial Minister of Environmental Affairs on all environmental, heritage and land use planning legal aspects in relation to the development of the 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer Stadium at Green Point, Cape Town
Former head of the Provincial Department of Environmental Affairs’ “Green Scorpions” directorate
Legal adviser to the Biodiversity Offsets Steering Committee
Legal adviser to the NEMA Law Reform Task Team
Chairman of the Western Cape Environmental Compliance Forum
Member of the National Environmental Compliance Forum and Minister's National Working Group IV Committee responsible for environmental compliance, monitoring and law enforcement.
Justin has presented at the “Investing in Mining Indaba”, the world’s largest mining investment event and was invited by the Danish Government to host a session during the Wind Energy Indaba. He also chaired one of the expert panels during the International Bar Association's African Regional Conference on the Environment.
He is a member of the Environmental Law Association.