Empowering the public to support implementation efforts through improving access to administrative and judicial proceedings is strongly encouraged. Through improved access, individuals and g[non-governmental organization]s (NGOs) can serve as watchdogs and enforcement partners to the government, identifying and addressing cases of non-compliance.
Promoting legal frameworks for access to justice, including the expansion of legal standing provisions to include NGOs and the public, is one way of improving access to judicial proceedings (see below for an explanation of “standing”). Providing a guaranteed independent judicial mechanism for reviewing instances of alleged environmental non-compliance by businesses, government bodies, and other actors can an effective means of promoting compliance and deterring non-compliance.
Access to administrative and judicial proceedings is closely related to access to information (including work with the media and public awareness raising, but also providing for more formal mechanisms for the public to obtain information). It is also closely related to public participation by all stakeholders. As such, access to information, public participation, and access to justice are frequently grouped together as key elements of effective environmental governance. This grouping is manifested in Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, the Aarhus Convention (which applies to the UNECE region), and other international instruments. Similarly, the Guidelines group the themes in Guidelines 27
-32 (in the Compliance Chapter) and Guidelines 41(i)-41(k) (in the Enforcement Chapter).
Guideline 41(i) and the accompanying discussion, below, examine standing and access to justice broadly in more detail. Additional discussion and examples relating to judicial matters may be found following Guidelines 41(a)(v), 41(c)(vi), 41(o), 43(c), 43(d), 46, and 47.