[Index]
Public to play
a role in enforcing international law
Geneva, 20 March 2003 - A new
type of international compliance regime
was launched in Geneva this week when
the Compliance Committee established
under the Aarhus Convention1
held its first meeting. Under the new
compliance mechanism, the public, including
non-governmental organizations, will
have the right to formally challenge
Governments that they believe are failing
to comply with their obligations under
the Convention.
The Aarhus Convention
is a relatively new UNECE treaty that
provides the public with the right to
have access to information, to participate
in decision-making and to have access
to justice in environmental matters.
Compliance is increasingly recognized
as a key issue for all international
environmental treaties and the development
of an innovative compliance mechanism
under the Aarhus Convention has been
of particular interest to international
lawyers.
The new compliance
mechanism reflects the principles of
transparency and participation that
are the hallmarks of the Convention
itself. For example, non-governmental
organizations are entitled to nominate
candidates for the Committee, although
all its members serve in a personal
capacity and not as representatives
of the organizations or Governments
that nominated them. Information held
by the Committee is generally public
and may be kept confidential only in
limited and clearly defined circumstances,
e.g. where a person making a complaint
does not want their identity to be revealed,
or where the Committee needs to examine
information claimed by a Party to be
confidential under the Convention to
decide whether the claim is justified.
Another aspect of the
Aarhus Convention compliance regime
that sets it apart from compliance mechanisms
developed under other environmental
agreements is that from 23 October 2003
it will allow the public to bring cases
of alleged non-compliance directly to
the attention of the Committee, which
will then be obliged to make a determination
on these cases. Thus it will provide
a direct means for the public to support
the implementation of the Convention
and the enforcement of its provisions.
Mr. Kaj Bärlund,
Director of the UNECE Environment and
Human Settlements Division, stressed
the importance of the new Committee's
role at the opening of the meeting:
"Many legally binding agreements have
been negotiated under the auspices of
UNECE but now it is crucial that we
put more emphasis on implementing the
agreements that have already been adopted.
Compliance mechanisms play a key role
in that process. The compliance mechanism
being launched today promises to be
particularly dynamic by allowing public
input."
A particular challenge
for the Committee, according to Mr.
Bärlund, will be the need to reconcile
the supportive, non-confrontational,
non-judicial nature of the mechanism,
which is one of its defining features,
with the fact that it will be deciding
upon complaints from the public.
One of the main issues
discussed by the Committee during its
first meeting was the issue of whether
meetings should be open or closed. Reflecting
the Convention itself, it was agreed
that, in principle, all meetings should
be open to the public, and that the
parties concerned would have the opportunity
to participate in discussions of their
particular case. However, as in all
bodies arbitrating on cases where individual
rights are at stake, the Committee will
hold its final deliberations in closed
session when deciding on a particular
case.
Mr. Veit Koester (Denmark)
was elected as Chair of the Committee
and Prof. Svitlana Kravchenko (Ukraine)
as Vice-Chair.
For further information,
please contact:
Jeremy WATES
Secretary to the Aarhus Convention
UNECE Environment and Human Settlements
Division
Palais des Nations, office 332
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 23 84 or
+41 (0) 79 202 68 52
Fax: +41 (0) 22 907 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.unece.org/env/pp/compliance.htm
___________
1 The UNECE Convention on
Access to Information, Public Participation
in Decision-making and Access to Justice
in Environmental Matters was adopted
in the Danish city of Aarhus in June
1998 and entered into force in October
2001. To date, it has 23 Parties.
Ref: ECE/ENV/03/P04