Gunns' description of a legal opinion by University of Tasmania law lecturer Michael Stokes as "ridiculous" is an attempt to avoid an extremely serious failure of governance which means that the Tamar Valley pulp mill cannot be built, Greens Leader Bob Brown said today.

"It is Gunns which is ‘ridiculous'," Senator Brown said.

"The legal requirements for approval of the mill have not been met.

"Gunns writ against the so-called Gunns 20 and Triabunna 13 indicate that the company is a stickler for the law. It cannot expect special treatment for itself. Nor should it get special treatment," Senator Brown said.

"In these circumstances, building the mill would not only be environmentally irresponsible and socially unpopular it would clearly be illegal," Senator Brown said