Procedures and Mechanisms for Review of Compliance under the 1998 Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

2009 ◽  
pp. 221-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cesare Pitea
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Aarhus Convention

scholarly journals IMPLEMENTING PRINCIPLE 10 OF THE 1992 RIO DECLARATION: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE AARHUS CONVENTION 1998 AND THE ESCAZÚ AGREEMENT 2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (55) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Sidney GUERRA ◽  
Giulia PAROLA
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Environmental Rights ◽  
Healthy Environment ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
America Latina

ABSTRACTTwenty years after the signature of the UNECE  Convention  on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, (the Aarhus Convention, 1998) on March 4, 2018 –and after six years of negotiations-,twenty-four countries in Latin American and the Caribbean adopted the Escazú Convention, the first ever legally binding treaty on environmental rights in the Region. The Regional Agreement on Access to Information, Public Participation and Justice in Environmental Matters in Latin America and the Caribbean, once ratified by the signatories, will affect the constitutions and the legislations in Latin America and the Caribbean in environmental matters, serving as a framework to increase the level of the protection on environmental participatory rights in the region. The objective of this article is to give an overview of both treaties. Part I will briefly outline the context and the negotiating process of the two texts. Then, Part II will consist of a comparative analysis, that will scrutinise the structure of the treaties, the notion of democracy and the substantive right to a healthy environment. Finally, the Part III will compare the three pillars recognised in both documents and underline the similarities, the differences between the three pillars, and the steps forwards for Environmental Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean. KEYWORDS: Right to access; Aarhus Convention; Escazú Agreement; Environmental Democracy; Latin America and Caribbean. RESUMOVinte anos após a assinatura da Convenção sobre Acesso à Informação, Participação no Processo de Tomada de Decisão e Acesso à Justiça em Matéria de Ambiente UN/ECE (Convenção de Aarhus, 1998) e após seis anos de negociações, vinte e quatro países da América Latina e do Caribe adotaram a Convenção Escazú, o primeiro tratado juridicamente vinculante sobre direito ambiental na Região. O Acordo Regional sobre Acesso à Informação, Participação Pública e Justiça em Matéria de Ambiente na América Latina e no Caribe, uma vez ratificado, produzira efeitos na ordem jurídica interna dos Estados partes em matéria ambiental e servirá para aumentar o nível de proteção dos direitos de participação ambiental na região. O objetivo deste artigo é fornecer uma visão geral de ambos os tratados. A parte I delineará brevemente o contexto e o processo de negociação dos dois textos. A Parte II consistirá numa análise comparativa que examinará a estrutura dos tratados, a noção de democracia e o direito substantivo a um ambiente saudável. Por fim, a Parte III se destina a comparar os três pilares reconhecidos em ambos os documentos e sublinhar as semelhanças, as diferenças entre os três pilares e os passos a serem tomados para o Direito Ambiental na América Latina e no Caribe. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Acesso à justiça; Convenção de Aarhus; Acordo de Escazú; Democracia Ambiental; América Latina e Caribe

LOS DERECHOS AMBIENTALES DE INFORMACIÓN, PARTICIPACIÓN Y JUSTICIA Y SU RÉGIMEN EN LA COMUNIDAD AUTÓNOMA VASCA

2010 ◽  
pp. 867-904
Author(s):  
JOSÉ ANTONIO RAZQUIN LIZARRAGA
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Basque Country ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Environmental Rights ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
The Impact

Los derechos de acceso a la información, participación pública y acceso a la justicia han avanzado con la aplicación del Convenio de Aarhus de 1998 y de las Directivas comunitarias de 2003 por la Ley estatal 27/2006, que ha afectado a su pionera regulación por la Ley vasca 3/1998, General de protección del medio ambiente. Aquí se estudia el régimen jurídico de los derechos ambientales de la ciudadanía en la Comunidad Autónoma Vasca, mostrando los cambios derivados de la nueva normativa y su incidencia en la legislación autonómica, así como su aplicación práctica y los retos pendientes para su cumplimiento real y efectivo. Informazioa eskuratzeko, bizitza publikoan parte hartzeko eta justizia eskuratzeko eskubideek aurrera egin dute 1998ko Aarhus Ituna eta, Estatuaren 27/2006 Legearen bidez, 2003ko Erkidegoko Direktibak aplikatzearen ondorioz, eragina izan baitu Ingurumena Babesteko EAEko 3/1998 Lege Orokor aitzindarian. Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko herritarren ingurumeneko eskubideen araubide juridikoa ikertzen da, arau berrietatik ondorioztatzen diren aldaketak eta autonomiaren legeetan duten eragina erakutsiz. Araudi horren aplikazio praktikoa eta benetan eta ganoraz betetzeko erronka ere izan dira lanaren xede. The rights of access to information, public participation in decisionmaking and access to justice in environmental matters have improved by the Act 2006/27 approved in application of Aarhus Convention on 1998 and European Directives on 2003, affecting the pioneering regulation in Basque Act 1998/3. This paper studies the system of environmental rights in the Basque Country, showing the changes prompted by the new regulation, the impact in regional legislation and the measures envisaged to implementation. At the end, public authorities must continue working to real and effective fulfilment of environmental rights.

scholarly journals Digital citizens’ participation right in defense of the environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 326-339
Author(s):  
Maria Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
The European Union ◽  
United Nations Economic Commission ◽  
National Regulation ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Participation In Decision Making ◽  
The Right

The Aarhus Convention of June 25, 1998, of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, introduced the commitment of each signing State to ensure, within the framework of its national regulation, that citizens could suit and appeal any decision, or any action or omission that falls within the scope of public participation regarding issues on environmental matters. Hence, citizens are entitled to appeal administratively and judicially against public environmental decisions if they invoke a legal infringement in relation to this issue. Access to justice for violation of the rights of public participation are set out in the same terms on Regulation (EU) number 1367/2006, of September 6, relating to the application, to the institutions and community bodies, of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on environmental matters. Although the right of access is quite broad, it is not exempt from exceptions, such as those indicated on the Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, of January 28, on public access to environmental information, which has recently been interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the Judgement (First Chamber) of January 20, 2021 in the Land Baden-Württemberg case (Communications internes). However, all this is not useful if citizens are not granted with the possibility of accessing to control judicially administrative decisions that do not comply with environmental policies with the same extension, because the opportunity for any citizen to be entitled to effectively control these actions is being excluded. This paper aims to analyze the extent of the right of citizens to participate digitally in public decision-making of an environmental nature, and determine if such right is consistent with the possibilities of access to justice in this matter, since only through judicially control of the administrative decisions it is possible to make the participation right effective.

Access to documents: Interaction and gaps in the REACH and Aarhus Convention systems

elni Review ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 15-20
Author(s):  
Vito Buonsante
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Official Journal ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Community Institutions ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Access To Documents ◽  
The Eu

Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) was published in the Official Journal on 30 December 2006 and came into force on 1 June 2007. Regulation (EC) 1367/2006 on the application of the provisions of the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters to Community Institutions and Bodies entered into force on 28 September 2006 and became applicable on 28 June 2007. This article discusses the gaps in REACH in relation to the Aarhus Regulation, and the obligations for ECHA that derive from the application of REACH and from the fact that the EU is a party to the Aarhus Convention. The article also carries out a partial assessment of the work conducted by ECHA on access to and dissemination of environmental information.

The Aarhus Convention in operation: EEB Survey Initial Results

elni Review ◽  
2007 ◽  
pp. 2-4
Author(s):  
Ralph Hallo
Keyword(s):  
Public Participation ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Initial Experience ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Initial Results ◽  
The Eu

The Aarhus Convention is generally recognised as the most important international legal instrument in the field of environmental rights. All 27 EU Member States (with the exception of Slovakia) and the European Union have signed the Convention and all of these signatories (except Ireland) have now ratified the Convention. The Convention is generally described as having three pillars: access to information, public participation and access to justice. The EU prepared for ratification by adopting two directives and proposing a third, one for each of the three pillars (collectively, ‘the EU’s Aarhus Convention directives’). The EEB (the European Environmental Bureau) has been actively involved, over many years, in efforts to develop and use the Aarhus Convention. Two years after the deadline for transposition of the Information Directive and a year and a half after the deadline for transposition of the Public Participation Directive, the EEB determined that the time was right to launch an investigation into the initial experience with the implementation and use of the two directives. The EEB also wished to examine experiences with access to justice and the need for the currently stalled proposal.

The Escazú Agreement and the Regional Approach to Rio Principle 10: Process, Innovation, and Shortcomings

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 533-545
Author(s):  
Stephen Stec ◽  
Jerzy Jendrośka
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Regional Approach ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Specific Activities ◽  
Latin American And Caribbean

Abstract The adoption in 2018 of the Escazú Agreement by the countries of the Latin American and Caribbean region marks the second regional legal instrument aimed at the implementation of Principle 10 of the 1992 Rio Declaration, joining the Aarhus Convention of the pan-European region. The international community has settled upon the regional level as the appropriate means for implementing standards related to access to information, public participation, and access to justice in environmental matters. The appropriateness of the regional level is demonstrated by the differences and innovations found in the Escazú Agreement, in its scope and definitions, background principles, burden of proof and protections of environmental defenders and vulnerable populations. Yet, the regional approach also entails risks, as demonstrated by the limitation of the scope of rights for nationals of the country where specific activities are planned or occurring.

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