The Aarhus Convention: Standards for Access to Justice in Environmental Matters

Abstract

The Aarhus Convention is an international treaty under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN ECE). It guarantees three interconnected procedural rights: the right to information; the right to participate in decision-making; and the right of access to justice in environmental matters. The Convention is ground-breaking in linking environmental rights and human rights. Its overarching objective is to contribute to the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to their health and well-being.2 The Convention aims to strengthen environmental governance by providing opportunities for an informed public to express concerns about activities which may have a significant effect on the environment and insisting that public authorities take account of those concerns. Transparency and accountability in decision-making is advanced by improving public access to environmental information and providing accessible, affordable and effective review mechanisms to ensure that the law is applied correctly and enforced by the courts where necessary. The Convention places special emphasis on the role played by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in environmental protection, in particular by enabling them to enforce the law in the public interest. This chapter examines the development of standards within the context of the rights guaranteed under the Convention and the obligations undertaken by State Parties (i.e. States that have ratified, and are therefore bound by, the Convention as a matter of international law). It focuses on how the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (the Compliance Committee) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) have developed these standards over time. Of course, courts and tribunals at national level are also involved intensively in interpreting, applying and enforcing Convention obligations. In order to provide a detailed account, this chapter focuses exclusively on the role of the Compliance Committee and the CJEU in developing standards within the framework of the Convention.

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