The diesel judgment - and our response

14th July 2026

The judgment in the Pan-NOx litigation was handed down on Friday 10th July, with Justice Cockerill rejecting most of the principal allegations against the car manufacturers, but ruling there were breaches for two car companies - Mercedes and Peugeot-Citreon. A further legal case will come in October to determine compensation for car owners - who will be allowed to continue driving their cars on our roads.

Thank you to our volunteers and supporters, who joined us at short notice outside the court to stand up for children’s health. Image: Ron Fassbender

The case was lost because the judge adopted a much narrower interpretation of what constitutes a prohibited "defeat device" than the claimants argued, distinguishing the UK litigation from the earlier Volkswagen "Dieselgate" cases and from some post-Brexit CJEU decisions.

The judgment details that “if an alternative approach to the meaning of “defeat device” were taken, a larger number of defeat devices would be established, including devices in each of the lead manufacturers’ cars.”

We are incredibly disappointed with the result, because there are still over 7 million illegally polluting diesel cars on our roads, emitting thousands of tonnes of excess emissions every year. This judgment does nothing to address these, or the estimated 30,000 cases of childhood asthma that have developed in the UK since 2009 due to excess diesel emissions.

We will continue to fight for little lungs - and for the government to take these cars off our roads. Watch our film to find out more about the effects of excess diesel emissions on children, then email our leaders to demand action.