Limits of NGO Rights to Invoke Access to Justice under the Aarhus Convention

2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 458-469 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gérardine Garçon
Keyword(s):  
Crop Protection ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Maximum Residue Levels ◽  
Judicial Procedures ◽  
The Impact

Joined Cases C-404/12P and C-405/12PThe Aarhus Convention was concluded in order to strengthen the rights of the public on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters. The Convention provides that members of the public shall have access to administrative or judicial procedures to challenge measures by private persons and public authorities that contravene provisions of national law relating to the environment. At EU level, a regulation made the Aarhus Convention applicable to EU institutions. Pursuant to that regulation, review of measures adopted by EU institutions is limited to administrative acts. Two NGOs challenged the legality of that limitation and filed legal action. The case was related to the establishment of EU maximum residue levels for active substances contained in crop protection products. The Commission refused to review this measure which it considered to be no administrative act. The Court of Justice of the European Union has recently given its judgment in that case. The impact of the judgment goes beyond the crop protection sector as it concerns the scope of the internal review concept in general. Further, but not less important, the Court has clarified to which extent international treaties concluded by the EU can be relied upon by individuals.

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 The direct effect of the Aarhus Convention as seen by the French ‘Conseil d’Etat’

elni Review ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
Julien Bétaille
Keyword(s):  
Direct Effect ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Legislative Changes ◽  
The One ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Environmental Democracy

France ratified the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters on the 8th July 2002 and the Convention came into force on the 6th October 2002. Seen as an instrument of ‘environmental democracy’, the impact of the Convention in France has been relative. On the one hand, the Convention did not imply many legislative changes. The 2002 law relating to the ‘proximity democracy’ has provided the main legislative change due to the Convention through an improvement of the ‘public debate’ procedure. On the other hand, the judge has had an important role to play. Citizens and non-governmental organisations saw the Convention as an opportunity to improve their rights and invoked the Convention before the courts. It gave the judge the opportunity to interpret the Convention and fix its legal impact in French law. The judge limited direct effects of the Aarhus Convention to a few stipulations and “choose a soft interpretation of this treaty’s requirements”. This study focuses on the case law of the French administrative highest jurisdiction, the ‘Conseil d’Etat’. The ‘Cour de cassation’, never had to pronounce on any of the Aarhus Convention provisions. It is first of all necessary to understand how the ‘Conseil d’Etat’ assesses the direct effect of the treaties before analysing how the ‘Conseil d’Etat’ applies it to the Aarhus Convention.

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 Right to Information in India Implementation and Impact

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
_______ Naveen ◽  
_____ Priti
Keyword(s):  
Public Life ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Know How ◽  
The People ◽  
The Government ◽  
Right To Information ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

The Right to Information Act 2005 was passed by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government with a sense of pride. It flaunted the Act as a milestone in India’s democratic journey. It is five years since the RTI was passed; the performance on the implementation frontis far from perfect. Consequently, the impact on the attitude, mindset and behaviour patterns of the public authorities and the people is not as it was expected to be. Most of the people are still not aware of their newly acquired power. Among those who are aware, a major chunk either does not know how to wield it or lacks the guts and gumption to invoke the RTI. A little more stimulation by the Government, NGOs and other enlightened and empowered citizens can augment the benefits of this Act manifold. RTI will help not only in mitigating corruption in public life but also in alleviating poverty- the two monstrous maladies of India.

scholarly journals The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Working Conditions, Employment, Career Development and Well-Being of Refugee Researchers

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
Ourania Tzoraki ◽  
Svetlana Dimitrova ◽  
Marin Barzakov ◽  
Saad Yaseen ◽  
Vasilis Gavalas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Appropriate Technology ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Home Setting ◽  
The Public ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
The Impact

The ongoing ‘refugee crisis’ of the past years has led to the migration of refugee researchers (RRs) to European countries. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, RRs often had to work from home and/or to continue their social, cultural and economic integration process under new conditions. An online survey carried out to explore the impact of the pandemic on the refugee researchers showed that RRs found it difficult to adapt their everyday working life to the ‘home’ setting. The majority have had neither a suitable work environment at home nor the appropriate technology. Although they stated that they are rather pleased with the measures taken by the public authorities, they expressed concern about their vulnerability due to their precarious contracts and the bureaucratic asylum procedures, as the pandemic has had a negative impact on these major issues. The majority of RRs working in academia seem not to have been affected at all as far as their income is concerned, while the majority of those employed in other sectors became unemployed during the pandemic (58%). Recommendations are provided to the public authorities and policy makers to assist RRs to mitigate the consequences of the pandemic on their life.

Human rights restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland and Russia. Legal and comparative aspects

2021 ◽  
Vol 2(24) ◽  
pp. 323-340
Author(s):  
Marta Pietras-Eichberger
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Research Problems ◽  
The Impact

The study analyzed selected issues related to the scope of human rights and freedoms during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland and Russia. The author wanted to compare the regulations issued by a Member State of the European Union and a country outside the European Union, often using undemocratic methods of exercising power. The work focuses on research problems related to the principles of protection, the confrontation of individual interests with the public interest, and the impact of the regimes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic on human rights law in both countries. The thesis of the study is that in the event of a threat to public health, analogous restrictions on human rights are introduced both in an undemocratic country and in a country belonging to international structures identifying with democratic values. The state of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, and in some area even contributed to the creation of mechanisms reserved for crisis situations, posing a direct and real threat to public safety and health.

The Landscape of War and the Transformations of the Public Sphere

2019 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 62-67
Author(s):  
Dijana Alic
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
Independent State ◽  
The Public ◽  
Time Space ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Modern Warfare ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City ◽  
Edward Soja

On 6 april 1992, the european union (eu) recognised bosnia and hercegovina as a new independent state, no longer a part of the socialist federal republic of Yugoslavia. The event marked the start of the siege of sarajevo, which lasted nearly four years, until late february 1996. It became the longest siege in the history of modern warfare, outlasting the leningrad enclosure by a year. During its 1425 days, more than 11,500 people were killed. The attacks left a trail of destruction across the city, which began to transform it in ways not experienced before. This paper explores how the physical transformation of sarajevo affected the ways in which meaning and significance were assigned to its built fabric. I argue that the changes imposed by war and the daily destruction of the city challenged long-established relationships between the built fabric and those who inhabited the city, introducing new modes of thinking and interpreting the city. Loosely placing the discussion within the framework of ‘Thirdspace', established by urban theorist and cultural geographer edward soja, i discuss the relationship that emerged between the historicality, sociality and spatiality of war-torn sarajevo. Whether responding to the impacts of physical destruction or dramatic social change, the nexus of time, space and being shows that the concept of spatiality is essential to comprehending the world and to adjusting to and resisting the impact of extraordinary circumstances. Recognising the continuation of daily life as essential to survival sheds light on processes of renewal and change in a war-affected landscape. These shattered urban spaces also show the ways in which people make a sense of place in relation to specific socio-historical environments and political contexts.

The Aarhus Convention and Polish Regulations Concerning Parties to Proceedings for Issuing the eia Decisions

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 56-76
Author(s):  
Magdalena Michalak ◽  
Przemysław Kledzik
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Law ◽  
Legal Order ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
United Nations Economic Commission ◽  
The Public ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Economic Commission ◽  
Aarhus Convention ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Environmental Law And Policy

Abstract The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus. According to its provisions each state Part shall, within the framework of the national legal order, ensure that members of the public concerned have access to a review procedure before a court of law or another independent and impartial body established by law. At the same time, it contains regulations specifying the criteria that constitute the basis for determining persons enjoying rights to access justice with respect to national legal orders. Poland, being one of the state Parties, introduced into national legal order special provisions enabling implementation of the Aarhus Convention, including regulations concerning parties to proceedings in environmental matters. The aim of the study is to analyse and assess these regulations in the light of the requirements adopted in the Aarhus Convention and to formulate general conclusions in the field of key issues of the international and European environmental law and policy.

Conditions and prospects for cooperation between Polish and Ukrainian local governments

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 221-241
Author(s):  
Mariusz W. Sienkiewicz
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Economic Life ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Transformations ◽  
The Social ◽  
Common Goals ◽  
The Eu

The fact that Poland and Ukraine share a border, the convergence of the political goals of the peoples of both countries, and the constant efforts towards the development of democracy and decentralisation of public life determine the need to intensify cooperation in various areas of the functioning of society and the economy. An important sphere of cooperation is the public sector, in particular at the level of local government. The local government cooperation of both countries was already visible at the beginning of the social and political transformations after 1990. The development of this cooperation, with varying results, took place in the 1990s and, to an even greater extent, after Poland’s accession to the European Union. In the last three decades, local and regional communities in Ukraine have become an important partner for Polish local governments, both at the local and regional levels. The local government cooperation that has been implemented is based on the diversification and multidimensionality of forms and models. Some result from legal regulations, while others are based on mutual experiences, previous contacts, and sympathies of public authorities. The aim of the study is to analyse and present the conditions and forms of Polish-Ukrainian local government cooperation. The aim is also to show the barriers to cooperation and to define proposed solutions to improve partner contacts of territorial units. The local government cooperation of the two countries is undoubtedly hindered by the fact that Ukraine is not a member of the EU, and often by mutual misunderstanding and non-acceptance of historical experiences. On the other hand, common goals at different levels of social, public, and economic life are a significant factor motivating parties to increase cooperation and achieve a synergistic effect thanks to it.

Six Dimensions of Public Law

2020 ◽  
pp. 399-430
Author(s):  
Paul Craig
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Public Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Six Dimensions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Way

This chapter draws on the six dimensions of public law covered in the book: theory, institutions and accountability, constitutions and rights, process and procedure, legislation, and case law. It links discussion of these dimensions, by considering how they have been affected by Brexit. The chapter is not concerned with the contending arguments for leaving or remaining in the European Union. The focus is on the way in which Brexit has ‘pressure-tested’ the public law regime in the United Kingdom and the European Union. The six dimensions of public law that are discussed in the preceding chapters form the architectural frame through which the impact of Brexit on the public law regimes is assessed in both the United Kingdom and the European Union.

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