2nd Edition. Lviv: RACSE, 2011. - 212 pp.
This is the second edition of the Case Law of the Aarhus Convention
Compliance Committee. It attempts to summarize the practice of the
Compliance Committee of the Aarhus Convention. Since its set up in
2002 by the First Meeting of the Parties of the Aarhus Convention,
the Committee has dealt with numerous issues related to practical
implementation of the Convention by the parties. In many cases, the
Committee had to interpret and apply Convention’s provisions to
specific situations brought to its attention by the public and
parties, as well as its own rules of procedures. Therefore,
substantial case law was developed by the Committee during
2004-2011. Understanding this case law may help policy makers and
practitioners apply and use the Convention in a more effective and
uniform way promoting common standards for practical enforcement of
environmental human rights in UN ECE region.
This second edition updates the Case Law of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (which covered 2004-2008) with new interpretations by the Compliance Committee as well as decisions adopted by the Meeting of the Parities (MOP) of the Aarhus Convention. The latter is new to this publication since the first edition did not include decisions by MOP.
The Case Law of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee was designed as a reference tool as explained below and comprises three parts, the first two representing similar approach. The first part is Aarhus Convention text (without GMO amendment) with inserted interpretations of its provisions by the Committee. The second part is Decision I/7 of the 1st Meeting of the Parties (establishing the compliance mechanism and setting its key procedural elements) with Committee’s case law on procedural issues (such as admissibility requirements). In addition, this edition includes relevant parts of the decisions by MOP with a view of reflecting measures adopted towards countries found in non-compliance with the provisions of the Aarhus Convention. Note that countries addressed by compliance decisions of MOP-2 (2005) were subject to the second circle of compliance review and, therefore, these counties were addressed by compliance decisions of MOP-3 (2008). When developing this publication it was decided not to provide any substantial comments on the interpretations made by the Committee except for a few explanatory notes providing brief context to some of the statements by the Committee. The third part includes summaries of all cases (triggered by communications with one exception) submitted to the Compliance Committee. These summaries aim to provide background information on the substantive issues submitted for the consideration by the Compliance Committee and, hopefully, will help the reader better understand the context of the Committee’s interpretations of the Convention in specific cases. Lastly, this part includes two reference tables to help the reader identify or analyze relevant case law of the Compliance Committee.
The publication covers all cases considered by the Compliance Committee as of May 2011, including those declared inadmissible, except for cases for which decisions were not ready at the time of publication. It does not include pending cases. For those unfamiliar with documentation details within UN ECE system, we provide a brief explanation of the reference numbers used in this publication. We hope this will help the readers to make further research when needed.
This second edition updates the Case Law of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (which covered 2004-2008) with new interpretations by the Compliance Committee as well as decisions adopted by the Meeting of the Parities (MOP) of the Aarhus Convention. The latter is new to this publication since the first edition did not include decisions by MOP.
The Case Law of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee was designed as a reference tool as explained below and comprises three parts, the first two representing similar approach. The first part is Aarhus Convention text (without GMO amendment) with inserted interpretations of its provisions by the Committee. The second part is Decision I/7 of the 1st Meeting of the Parties (establishing the compliance mechanism and setting its key procedural elements) with Committee’s case law on procedural issues (such as admissibility requirements). In addition, this edition includes relevant parts of the decisions by MOP with a view of reflecting measures adopted towards countries found in non-compliance with the provisions of the Aarhus Convention. Note that countries addressed by compliance decisions of MOP-2 (2005) were subject to the second circle of compliance review and, therefore, these counties were addressed by compliance decisions of MOP-3 (2008). When developing this publication it was decided not to provide any substantial comments on the interpretations made by the Committee except for a few explanatory notes providing brief context to some of the statements by the Committee. The third part includes summaries of all cases (triggered by communications with one exception) submitted to the Compliance Committee. These summaries aim to provide background information on the substantive issues submitted for the consideration by the Compliance Committee and, hopefully, will help the reader better understand the context of the Committee’s interpretations of the Convention in specific cases. Lastly, this part includes two reference tables to help the reader identify or analyze relevant case law of the Compliance Committee.
The publication covers all cases considered by the Compliance Committee as of May 2011, including those declared inadmissible, except for cases for which decisions were not ready at the time of publication. It does not include pending cases. For those unfamiliar with documentation details within UN ECE system, we provide a brief explanation of the reference numbers used in this publication. We hope this will help the readers to make further research when needed.