The sixth meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice will take place on 17 and 18 June 2013 in Geneva (Palais des Nations, Salle V). The meeting will be held back to back to the sixteenth meeting of the Working Group of the Parties to be held on 19-21 June 2013 in the same Salle.

The meeting of the Task Force will follow up on substantive issues (standing for individuals and non-governmental organizations, costs, financial arrangements and remedies). Participants will be invited to discuss the findings of the analytical studies carried out under auspices of the Task Force in 2012-2013 and recent developments taken place in the respective Parties with regard to these issues. They will also be informed about the recent relevant findings of the Compliance Committee.

In addition,  participants will be briefed on the electronic tools for sharing information and relevant reporting requirements. Furthermore, they will be invited to share their experience on a multi-stakeholders dialogue on access to justice in their respective countries as supported by  the Task Force at its fifth meeting (Geneva, 13-14 June 2012) and the Working Group of the Parties at its fifteenth meeting (Geneva, 3-5 September 2012). 

The Task Force is also expected to deliberate on the possible future directions for the work in the area of access to justice under the Aarhus Convention.

Statements

Participants may wish to submit their written statements about the recent developments related to access to justice  in environmental matters in electronic form to the secretariat (public.participation[at]unece.org, indicating in the subject line “ 6th meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice: statement”) prior to the meeting, preferably by Wednesday, 12 June 2013.

Documents  

Provisional agenda for the meeting has been uploaded in the Documents section below. Other documents will be uploaded in this section as soon as they become available. Please check this section regularly. 

The information about the analytical studies carried out under auspices of the Task Force in 2012-2013 can be found here.

In order to minimize the negative environmental impact of the meeting there will be no distribution of documents in the meeting room and we kindly urge you to bring with you all documents that you will require for the meeting. 

Registration, Visa, Financial support and Practical information 

Governments are requested to nominate representatives of the ministries of justice, judiciary and other professionals responsible for or involved in developing and implementing policies in the area of access to justice in environmental matters to participate in the meeting.

Participants are requested to complete the registration form and send it by e-mail (indicating in the subject 6th meeting of the Task Force on Access to Justice) to the secretariat at public.participation[at]unece.org as soon as possible but not later 3 June 2013. Participants requiring a personal invitation letter for visa purposes should indicate this clearly in the registration form and submit the registration form as early as possible taking into account the period required to obtain the visa.

Limited funds are available to support experts with relevant experience from countries with economies in transition, eligible for financial support, and NGOs. Participants requiring such support are requested to complete the financial support form, and send it to the secretariat at: public.participation[at]unece.org as soon as possible but not later 6 May 2013.

Further practical information is available here.

Key dates to remember:

Deadline for financial support: 6 May 2013

Registration deadline: 3 June 2013

Submission of written statements: 12 June 2013

Back-to-back meeting: 19-21 June 2013, 16th meeting of the Working Group of the Parties