This guide is a view about environmental protection in 21th century. The subtitle state that "Securing the public's rights through access to information, public participation and access to justice for a healthy environment".
In july 2014 I have attended to the meeting of the parties in Maastricht.
This step by step approach to the environmental laws is almost entirely intertwined with the discourse of human rights. Although writing in technical manner it can be helpful for any European citizen that have heard about lobby of Bruxelles.
The procedure by which any economic enterprise take place in Europe must be submitted to Environmental Impact Assessment thereby through a public scrutiny under strict legislation to provide a guarantee to the individuals, the associations & the public institutions to reaffirm their sovereignity over the entire process and it is the premise where here we go in this book.
The access to information is the declaration of the importance in enhancing the possibility for anyone in any language to get the informations primarily in electronic format, by paper and others formats for rights to know of what we are talking about when we talk about environment, nothing can be leave to the case.
The second pillar treat the public in decision making, also here we encounter a wide array of dispositions that almost at any meeting of the parties try to enlarge, but now almost every citizen can appeal to the formal institution or through NGO to contrast any missed point made by the public authorities in release the permits not at rule or in violations of pollution limit. The dispositions by law are articulated and complex, including a reasonable time for the response. The way is direct to an early prevention of the damage as in a case of infrastructural works.
The third pillar is access to justice. The distinction is made as "public concern", where the damage has to be proved, a cautious system of exemptions is given and the revision procedure start without compromise to the interest of any individual person put the health firstly. The equal level of justice can be reached in domestic law of all states and subsequently in harmonization in EU. European court of justice is another example. Timing and costs are underlined as the most important barriers to access to justice, and the provisions are made for a vast partecipation without constrictions, rule after rule.
The final dispositions evidence the necessity to bring next successful meetings of the parties of the Aarhus convention, with compliance process widened to a numerous proposals by NGO, individuals, various environmental associations or institutions and continue revision process by legislators in a scenery of the rule of law.
