Case status: Findings adopted on 09.11.2020 – Non-compliance found.
Follow-up: On-going; see Decision VII/8i.
Topics: Access to justice.
Articles alleged: 3; 4; 9.
Articles considered by the Committee: 3 (1), 3 (2); 4 (1), 4 (2), 4 (7); 9 (1), 9 (4).
Articles, if any, found in non-compliance: 9 (4).
Summary: On 19 August 2016, a non-governmental organization, Right to Know, submitted a communication to the Committee alleging a failure by Ireland to comply with its obligations under articles 3, 4 and 9 of the Convention with respect to requests for access to environmental information and review mechanisms thereof.
| Documents | Status | Date received or posted by the Secretariat |
|---|---|---|
|
Annex 1: European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations (consolidated) |
From the communicant | 19.08.2016 |
| Letter to the Party concerned enclosing Committee's determination of preliminary admissibility and forwarding communication for the Party concerned's response | From the secretariat | 06.12.2016 |
|
Annex 1: Reference list of annexes Annex 2: Presentation on access to environmental information, dated 19.10.2016 (app. A(i)) Annex 3: Presentation on appeals to the OCEI, dated 19.10.2016 (app. A(ii)) Annex 4: Presentation on dissemination of information, dated October 2016 (app. A(iii)) Annex 5: Findings of the Committee on communication ACCC/C/2007/21 (EC) (app. B) Annex 6: Findings of the Committee on communication ACCC/C/2011/58 (Bulgaria) (app. C) Annex 7: OCEI Annual Report 2013 (app. D(i)) Annex 8: OCEI Annual Report 2014 (app. D(ii)) Annex 9: OCEI Annual Report 2015 (app. D(iii)) Annex 10: High Court judgement, An Taoiseach v OCEI [2010] IEHC 241 (app. E) Annex 11: OCEI Procedures Manual (app. F) Annex 12: High Court judgement, NAMA v OCEI [2013] IEHC 166 (app. G) Annex 13: Order 84C of the Rules of the Superior Courts, Statutory Appeals Procedure (app. H) Annex 14: High Court judgement, Deely v Information Commissioner [2000 No. 95 M.C.A.] (app. I) Annex 15: CJEU judgement, Case C-71/14 East Sussex (app. J) Annex 16: High Court judgement, NAMA v OCEI [2013] IEHC 86 (app. K) Annex 17: Supreme Court judgement, NAMA v OCEI [2015] IESC 51 (app. L) Annex 18: CJEU judgement, Case C-279/12 Fish Legal (app. M) Annex 19: High Court judgement, Minch v OCEI [2016] IEHC 91 (app. N) Annex 20: Findings of the Committee on communication ACCC/C/2004/2 (Kazakhstan) (app. O) |
From the Party concerned | 05.05.2017 |
| Letters inviting Party concerned and communicant to hearing at the Committee’s 62nd meeting | From the secretariat | 11.09.2018 |
| Update on developments since submission of the communication Annex 1: Published decisions Annex 2: Outcomes 2017 to 2018 Annex 3: R2K Cases Annex 4: CEI refusal letter Annex 5: CEI 2017 annual report |
From the communicant | 09.10.2018 |
| Observer statement | From the Irish Environmental Pillar | 18.10.2018 |
| Additional information Annex 1a: OCEI annual report 2016 Annex 1b: OCEI annual report 2017 Annex 2: OCEI webpage 'How We Review Decisions' Annex 3: OCEI Procedures Manual Annex 4: OCEI appeals by Right to Know in 2017 |
From the Party concerned | 24.10.2018 (corrected on 26.10.2018) |
| Observer statement | From Mr. Stephen Minchin | 27.10.2018 |
| Opening Statement for hearing at Committee's 62nd meeting | From the Party concerned | 08.11.2018 |
| Opening statement for hearing at Committee's 62nd meeting | From the communicant | 14.11.2018 |
| Update Annex: OCEI annual report 2018 |
From the communicant | 21.08.2019 |
| Email inviting comments | From the secretariat | 23.08.2019 |
| Letter enclosing OCEI annual report 2019 | From the communicant | 26.06.2020 |
| Draft findings and letters to the Party concerned and the communicant inviting their comments | From the secretariat | 07.08.2020 |
| Request for extension of commenting deadline | From the Party concerned | 17.09.2020 |
| Chair’s decision to grant extension of deadline for comments | From the secretariat | 18.09.2020 |
| Comments on the Committee’s draft findings | From the communicant | 20.10.2020 |
| Comments on the Committee’s draft findings | From observer, the Irish Environmental Network | 20.10.2020 |
| Letter enclosing comments on the Committee’s draft findings | From the Party concerned | 21.10.2020 |
| Findings ENG FRE RUS | 09.11.2020 | |
| Update on measures to address the Committee's findings and recommendations | From the Party concerned | 21.05.2021 |
| Comments on Party concerned’s update Annex 1: Public Consultation Document Annex 2: Public Consultation Webpage Annex 3: Right to Know response to consultation, 16.04.2021 Annex 4: OCEI response to consultation, 16.04.2021 |
From the communicant | 27.05.2021 |
| Update Annex 1 – Review of Submissions |
From the communicant | 10.06.2021 |
| Letters to the Party concerned and the communicant inviting their comments on the Committee's draft report to MOP7 on its findings on communication ACCC/C/2016/141 | From the secretariat | 04.07.2021 |
| Comments on the Committee’s draft report | From the Party concerned | 19.07.2021 |
| Comments on the Committee’s draft report | From the communicant | 19.07.2021 |
| Comments on the Committee’s draft report Annex 1: Correspondence with Department on Consultation issues |
From the observer, Irish Environmental Network | 19.07.2021 |
| Report to the Meeting of the Parties on communication ACCC/C/2016/141 (advance copy) | 26.07.2021 |