Giving the Public a Voice in MEA Compliance Mechanisms
COMPLIANCE AND ENFORCEMENT IN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW: TOWARDS MORE IMPLEMENTATION, IUCN ACADEMY OF ENVIRONMENTAL LAW SERIES, Edward Elgar, UK, 2011
41 Pages Posted: 23 Nov 2011 Last revised: 1 Dec 2011
Date Written: September 21, 2011
Abstract
Only one multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) has experience with allowing the general public to trigger its compliance mechanism - the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. This paper will describe and evaluate the role that communications or complaints from the public play in the Aarhus Convention Compliance Mechanism. It will also examine some of the cases that have come before the Aarhus Compliance Committee in its first 5 years.
Public participation can significantly increase the amount of activity under a compliance mechanism and the experience so far demonstrates that the public raises serious issues of compliance and implementation. However, the response of governments to date has been mixed, so that the degree of increased compliance that may occur from public complaints is still an open question.
This paper was prepared to be a chapter in the book "Compliance and Enforcement in Environmental Law: Towards More Effective Implementation," IUCN Academy of Environmental Law Series, Edward Elgar, UK, 2011.
Keywords: compliance, MEA, Aarhus, public participation,
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