Access to justice constitutes one of the three pillars of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention). It is set out in article 9  of the Convention and is one of the most important prerequisites for effective public participation in environmental decision-making and thus effective environmental protection.

Capacity-building activities related to access to justice, including workshops and trainings, are given priority in the Work Programme for 2012-2014 adopted by the Meeting of the Parties at its fourth session. Primarily nowadays these activities are aimed at supporting legal professionals, especially members of judiciary bodies and public interests lawyers.

Workshops

High-level Judicial workshop on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters for the Central Asian subregion, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 22 and 23 May 2012

High-level Judicial seminar on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters for the South Eastern European subregion, Tirana, Albania, 16-18 November 2008

High-level Judicial seminar on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters for Eastern Europe and South Caucasus subregions, Kyiv, Ukraine, 4-5 June 2007

Workshop on Access to Justice, Tallinn, Estonia, 17-19 September 2001

Training material

Training modules for judges and prosecutors on EU Environmental Law