Book contents
- Reviews
- International Judicial Practice on the Environment
- Studies on International Courts and Tribunals
- International Judicial Practice on the Environment
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Cases
- Introduction International Courts and the Environment: the Quest for Legitimacy
- Part I Procedural Legitimacy of Judicial Environmental Practice: Access to Justice
- 1 The Environment before the European Court of Justice
- 2 The EU Aarhus Regulation and EU Administrative Acts Based on the Aarhus Regulation: the Withdrawal of the CJEU from the Aarhus Convention
- 3 Access to Justice before EU Courts in Environmental Cases against the Backdrop of the Aarhus Convention: Balancing Pathological Stubbornness and Cognitive Dissonance?
- Part II Legitimacy and Scientific Certainty: Environmental Adjudication, Use of Experts and the Limits of Science
- Part III Judges as Law-Makers: Legitimate Development of Environmental Law
- Part IV Legitimacy of Outcomes: Performance, Effects (and Side-Effects)
- Part V The Legitimacy of Non-Compliance Procedures
- Part VI The Limits of Environmental Justice through Courts: Balancing Legitimacy with the Need for Creativity
- Index
3 - Access to Justice before EU Courts in Environmental Cases against the Backdrop of the Aarhus Convention: Balancing Pathological Stubbornness and Cognitive Dissonance?
from Part I - Procedural Legitimacy of Judicial Environmental Practice: Access to Justice
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 April 2019
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Book contents
- Reviews
- International Judicial Practice on the Environment
- Studies on International Courts and Tribunals
- International Judicial Practice on the Environment
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Cases
- Introduction International Courts and the Environment: the Quest for Legitimacy
- Part I Procedural Legitimacy of Judicial Environmental Practice: Access to Justice
- 1 The Environment before the European Court of Justice
- 2 The EU Aarhus Regulation and EU Administrative Acts Based on the Aarhus Regulation: the Withdrawal of the CJEU from the Aarhus Convention
- 3 Access to Justice before EU Courts in Environmental Cases against the Backdrop of the Aarhus Convention: Balancing Pathological Stubbornness and Cognitive Dissonance?
- Part II Legitimacy and Scientific Certainty: Environmental Adjudication, Use of Experts and the Limits of Science
- Part III Judges as Law-Makers: Legitimate Development of Environmental Law
- Part IV Legitimacy of Outcomes: Performance, Effects (and Side-Effects)
- Part V The Legitimacy of Non-Compliance Procedures
- Part VI The Limits of Environmental Justice through Courts: Balancing Legitimacy with the Need for Creativity
- Index
Summary
By ratifying the Aarhus Convention in 2005 the EU committed itself to guaranteeing broad access to justice in environmental matters at both national and EU levels. Yet in spite of its clear obligations, EU courts have consistently debunked pleas for softening of requirements in direct actions against EU acts in environmental law. The internal review procedure set out by the 2006 Aarhus Regulation (AR) has also been interpreted so restrictively that its added value in striving for better access to courts in environmental matters remains ephemeral. The chapter analyses recent jurisprudence, with emphasis on the repercussions of landmark rulings of January 2015 on the AR's compatibility with Article 9(3) AC. Against the backdrop of the dispute on access to justice in EU environmental law, which gradually evolved into a standoff between the EU institutions and the environmental movement, it discusses the legal arguments and addresses solutions for overcoming the existing deadlock. Potential alternative scenarios to deal with this major flaw in the EU legal order are sketched out and assessed against the backdrop of the EU’s international commitments and recent findings of the Aarhus Compliance Committee.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- International Judicial Practice on the EnvironmentQuestions of Legitimacy, pp. 74 - 118Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019