Case status: Findings adopted on 20.12.2013 – Non-compliance found.
Follow-up: Concluded; see para. 15 of Decision VI/8, Decision V/9h.
Topics: Definitions; Access to justice.
Articles alleged: 9 (2)–(4).
Articles considered by the Committee: 2 (5); 3; 6; 9 (2)–(4).
Articles, if any, found in non-compliance: 9 (2), 9 (3).
Summary: On 1 December 2008, the non-governmental organization ClientEarth, supported by Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union, submitted a communication to the Compliance Committee alleging that the legislation of the Party concerned established criteria for standing narrower in scope than those set out in article 9 (2) of the Convention and did not ensure that members of the public concerned may challenge the procedural legality of any decision subject to article 6. The communication alleged that, by failing to provide environmental NGOs with the possibility to challenge acts and omissions of private persons and public authorities which contravene environmental law, the Party concerned failed to comply with articles 9 (3) in conjunction with 9 (4) of the Convention.
| Document | Status | Date received or posted by the secretariat |
|---|---|---|
| Datasheet ACCC/C/2008/31 (Germany) | 07.02.2013 | |
| Preliminary determination on admissibility | 19.12.2008 | |
| Communication | Communication ACCC/C/2008/31 | 01.12.2008 |
| Attachment 1: Excerpts from the relevant Germand legislation | Attachment 1 to the communication | 01.12.2008 |
| Letter to the Party informing about the communication | Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee | 24.12.2008 |
| Letter to the communicant on preliminary admissibility of the communication | Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee | 24.12.2008 |
| Letter to the Party concerned raising additional questions for clarification | Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee | 16.01.2009 |
| Letter to the communicant raising additional questions for clarification | Letter from the secretariat sent at the request of the Committee | 16.01.2009 |
| Letter from the Party concerned requesting suspension in the review of the communication | Letter from the Party concerned to the secretariat | 27.03.2009 |
| Attachment 1: Ruling of the Higher Administrative Court of North Rhine Westphalia dated 05.03.2009 concerning suspension of the administrative proceedings and submission to the ECJ (in German) (in English) | Attachment 1 to the letter | 27.03.2009 |
| Attachment 2: Questions submitted to the ECJ | Attachment 2 to the letter | 27.03.2009 |
| Letter to the Party concerned proposing suspension in the review of the communication | Letter from the secretariat to the Party concerned | 28.04.2009 |
| Letter to the communicant proposing suspension in the review of the communication and welcoming its observations on the approach | Letter from the secretariat to the communicant | 28.04.2009 |
| Letter from the communicant accepting suspension | Letter from the communicant | 11.05.2009 |
| Letter to the communicant informing on decision to suspend the review of the communication until two months after the release of the opinion of the ECJ | Letter from the secretariat | 18.05.2009 |
| Letter to the Party concerned informing on decision to suspend the review of the communication until two months after the release of the opinion of the ECJ | Letter from the secretariat | 18.05.2009 |
| Letter to the Party concerned about the possibility for a hearing at CC-33 | From the secretariat | 18.05.2011 |
| Letter from the Party concerned about the possibility for a hearing at CC-33 | From the Party concerned | 20.05.2011 |
| Letter to the parties after CC-36 | From the secretariat | 05.04.2012 |
| Letter from the communicant | From the communicant | 07.07.2011 |
| Letter from the Party concerned | From the Party concerned | 12.07.2011 |
| Letter from the communicant | From the communicant | 06.07.2011 |
| Letter to the parties after CC-33 | From the secretariat | 25.07.2011 |
|
Response from the Party concerned (cover letter) Annex I C-115/09 (English) |
From the Party concerned | 25.07.2011 |
| Letter to the parties after CC-34 | From the secretariat | 17.10.2011 |
| Letter to the parties after CC-35 | From the secretariat | 01.02.2012 |
| Invitation to the Party and Invitation to the communicant for the discussion at CC-36 | From the secretariat | 28.02.2012 |
| [discussion was postponed to CC-38] | ||
|
Judgement of the Oberverwaltungsgericht Nordhein-Westfalen Full version (DE) |
From the Party concerned | 28.03.2011 |
| Letter to the parties regarding CC-36 | From the secretariat | 05.04.2012 |
| Letter from the communicant | From the communicant | 23.04.2012 |
| Letter from the Party concerned | From the Party concerned | 26.04.2012 |
| Invitation to the Party and to the communicant for the discussion at CC-38 | From the secretariat | 09.08.2012 |
|
Letter from the Party concerned with an update |
from the Party concerned | 20.08.2012 |
| Letter to parties after the discussion at CC-38 | From the secretariat | 04.10.2012 |
| Reply to the Committee's questions after the hearing | From the communicant | 29.10.2012 |
| Reply to the Committee's questions after the hearing and Annex (cover letter) | From the Party concerned | 05.11.2012 |
| Letter after CC-39 | From the secretariat | 22.01.2013 |
|
Annex I (final version of the Act amending the Environmental Appeals Act (Umwelt-Rechtsbehelfsgesetz) Annex II (consolidated version of the Environmental Appeals Act indicating changes to the previous version of the Act) Annex III (clean version of the consolidated Environmental Appeals Act, entered into force on 29 January 2013) |
From the Party concerned | 19.02.2013 |
| Additional information | From the communicant | 22.02.2013 |
| Additional information | From the Party concerned | 11.03.2013 |
| Draft findings and letters to the Party concerned and the communicant | From the secretariat | 11.11.2013 |
| Covering letter enclosing comments on draft findings, edits in track changes and judgment of Federal Administrative Court | From the Party concerned | 06.12.2013 |
| Covering letter and comments on the draft findings | From the communicant | 07.12.2013 |
| Findings ENG FRE RUS and letter to the Party concerned | From the secretariat | 19.03.2014 |