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Thirteenth meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice under the Aarhus Convention

Public Participation

15 - 16 February 2021

Palais des Nations, Geneva Switzerland

The thirteenth meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice took place from 15 to 16 February 2021 in a hybrid format.

The meeting provided a platform for exchanging information, experiences and good practices with regard to key recent developments in the implementation of the access to justice pillar of the Convention and possible measures to remove barriers hampering its implementation. It thereby supported the implementation of environmental dimension of Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Sustainable Development Goal 16 and its target 16.3 (Promote the rule of law at the national and international levels and ensure equal access to justice for all) that undergo in-depth review in 2021.

The thematic session of the meeting focussed on promoting public interest litigation in environmental matters. The Task Force identified good practices, barriers, challenges, innovative approaches, priority actions and needs in this area. In addition, delegates continued the discussion on measures to promote effective access to justice in information cases and cases relating to air quality. Delegates also took stock of recent and upcoming developments related to the implementation of the third pillar of the Convention on a general level.

For more information please read a news article about the meeting: Promoting effective access to justice to safeguard circular and green economy and sustainable development

Documents

Provisional agenda and other meeting documents are available below.

Title	ENG	FRE	RUS
Provisional Agenda (AC/TF.AJ-13/Inf.1)	PDF
List of speakers (AC/TF.AJ-13/Inf.1/Add.1)	PDF
Guide for remote participation	PDF
Report of the meeting (ECE/MP.PP/WG.1/2021/5)	PDF	PDF	PDF
List of key outcomes	PDF
List of participants	PDF
For all agenda items
Decision VI/3 on promoting effective access to justice, ECE/MP.PP/2017/8	PDF	PDF	PDF
Note by the Chair of the Task Force on Access to Justice (AC/WGP-24/Inf.3)	PDF
Consultation on the draft decision on access to justice
Item 2
Outcomes of WGP-24 thematic session on access to justice
Item 3
Outcomes of the twelfth meeting of the Task Force
Item 4
Study on access to justice in information cases (see tab below)

AJAI study

Study on access to justice in information cases

Pursuant to decision VI/3, para. 14 (a) (i), of the Meeting of the Parties to the Convention, the Task Force on Access to Justice at its 11th meeting (Geneva, 27-28 February 2018) agreed to prepare a study on access to justice in information cases.

To gather the required information, a survey was carried out among several institutions dealing with this subject in the selected Parties, namely in European Union, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Montenegro, Portugal, the Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland. The draft report by the Chair of the Task Force was then prepared summarizing the responses received to the survey. The report provided a basis for the discussion at the 12th meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice (Geneva, 28 February – 1 March 2019).

The draft report was further revised by the Chair in the light of the comments made at the 12th meeting of the Task Force and comments submitted to the secretariat after the meeting.

The present draft report is made available for comments by the Aarhus Convention national focal points and stakeholders (see the revised draft report (v. 29 July 2020) in the table below). The comments should be sent to the secretariat (aarhus.survey[at]un.org) by 1 November 2020. The receipt of the comments will be acknowledged by the secretariat and they will be made available online in the table below.

Following this round of consultations, the final text of the report discussed and finalized at the thirteenth meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice.

Documents

Title	ENG	FRE	RUS
Questionnaire on access to justice in cases on the right to environmental information (AC/TF.AJ-11/Inf.4 (final))	PDF
Responses received to the above Questionnaire
Draft report by the Chair (v. 22 February 2019 ) discussed at the 12TFAJ meeting	PDF
Revised draft report by the Chair (v. 29 January 2020)	DOC
Comments received on the draft report by the Chair
Revised draft report by the Chair (v.29 July 2020) for comments by 1 November 2020	DOC
Report by the Chair (v. 28 January 2021)	PDF
Report by Chair (final)	PDF

Statements and Presentations

Title	ENG	FRE	RUS
Item 2: Thematic focus: Promoting public interest litigation in environmental matters.
Setting the scene
II.1. Justice Luc Lavrysen, President, European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment	PDF
II.2. Mr. Richard Buxton, Partner, Richard Buxton Solicitors: Environmental, Planning and Public Law	PDF
II.3 Ms. Olha Melen-Zabramna, Head, Legal Unit, Environment-People-Law	PDF
Experiences of Parties and stakeholders
II.4. Ms. Egle Pauzuoliene, Chief Desk Officer, Law and Personnel Division, Ministry of the Environment, Lithuania	PDF
II.5. Ms. Francesca Carlsson, Legal Officer, European Environment Bureau	PDF
Item 3: Access to justice in cases relating to air quality.
Setting the scene
III.1. Mr. Filip Meysman, Professor, University of Antwerp, Belgium	PDF
III.2. Ms. Natalia Kobylarz, Senior Lawyer, the Registry of the European Court of Human Rights	PDF
III.3. Mr. Ugo Tadei, Director of Nature and Health, ClientEarth	PDF
Experiences of Parties and stakeholders
III.4. Mr. Christoph Sobotta, Legal Secretary, Chambers of Advocate General Juliane Kokott, Court of Justice of the European Union	PDF
III.5. Justice Luc Lavrysen, President, European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment	PDF
III.6. Justice Serhii Burlakov, Supreme Court, Ukraine	PDF
III.7. Mr. Oscar Alarik, Legal Counsel, Swedish Society for Nature Conservation	PDF
III.8. Mr. Plamen Peev, Senior legal and policy expert, BlueLink Foundation	PDF
III.9. Ms. Dorothee Saar, Project Manager, Environmental Action Germany	PDF
Item 4: Access to justice in information cases
Experiences of Parties and stakeholders
IV.2. Ms. Maja Raicevic, Independent Advisor, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism, Montenegro	PDF
IV.3. Ms. Nato Macharashvili, Acting Head, Legal Support Division, Ministry of Environmental protection and Agriculture, Georgia	PDF
IV.4. Mr. Dragoslav Djukic, Senior Advisor, Office of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, Serbia	PDF
IV.5. Justice Beibut Shermukhametov, Supreme Court, Kazakhstan
IV.6. Mr. Siarhei Mahonau, Legal advisor, Ecohome	PDF
IV.7. Ms. Regina Stoilova, Lawyer, Environmental Association Za Zemiata	PDF
Item 5. Taking stock of recent and upcoming developments
Experiences of Parties and stakeholders
V.1. Mr. Adam Daniel Nagy, Legal Policy Officer, DG Environment, European Commission	PDF
V.2. Mr. Robert Murataj, Executive Director, Aarhus Information Centre Vlore, Albania	PDF
V.3. Ms. Carol Day, Consultant Solicitor, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds	PDF
V.4. Ms. Senka Sifkovic Vrbica, Environmental Lawyer, Legal-informational centre for NGO	PDF
Developments related to other internation forums
V.5. Mr. Guilherme Canela De Souza Godoi, Chief, Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists Section, UNESCO	PDF
V.6. Ms. Marianna Bolshakova, Regional Coordinator, Environmental Law and Governance, UNEP	PDF
V.7. Mr. Marcelo J. Cousillas, Director of Legal Affairs, Ministry of Environment, Uruguay	PDF
V.8. Ms. Mariana Neves, Oslo Governance Centre, United Nations Development Programme	PDF
V.9 Mr. Frédérique Bourque, Associate Human Rights Officer, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and the Environment)	PDF

Thirteenth meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice under the Aarhus Convention

Documents

AJAI study

Statements and Presentations

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