Improving Access to Justice

EU environmental legislation is well developed and has become very complex, but there are still many gaps in implementation in the Member States. For this reason, the convincing political and legal framework has not yet produced the desired results.

Experience in the Member States shows that it is not enough to leave the management of transposition deficits to public administration alone. Active citizens, acting either alone or together in citizens' initiatives or through NGOs, can provide significant support for these efforts of the authorities.

There are many ways to carry out "civil enforcement" of EU environmental law - but in order to be effective, access to justice is necessary, for example, to have official decisions checked for their legal conformity.

Training with ÖKOBÜRO environmental lawyer Gregor Schamschula

© ÖKOBÜRO

Aims

In order to achieve wide and effective public access to justice, the project aims to

increase awareness of existing legislation and case law on access to justice in environmental matters within specific target groups (administrative justice, public administration, NGOs and the Ombudsoffices for Environmental Protection)
increase understanding of the importance of adequate access to justice for the national implementation of EU environmental policy and legislation
raise awareness of specific challenges and barriers to access to justice in environmental matters at national and European level
build knowledge and skills to avoid legal (material and procedural) barriers to effective access to justice in environmental matters

Expected results

At least 6,400 people should have access to at least one of the following materials produced during the project:

Guide on Access to Justice in European Union law (Procedural rules and case law under EU law and the Aarhus Convention)
National toolkits on access to justice in eight Member States
Digital information platform
Database of legal experts on access to justice in environmental matters

An "Ask an Expert" function will be set up on the information platform, through which at least 120 people should receive an answer to specific questions on access to justice.

At least 1,000 people will receive training on access to justice in a total of 48 workshops and seminars in the eight Member States and in 12 webinars. About 120 people will share their knowledge and experience at a conference in Brussels.

According to the project, 85 percent of the target groups who have accessed project materials or attended events under the project should have a better understanding of the challenges and hurdles of access to justice in environmental matters.