In Ukraine, the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (or the “Aarhus Convention”) has served as the basis for establishing locus standi of a public interest environmental law NGO. In 2003, Ecopravo-Lviv (EPL) filed cases against the Government of Ukraine challenging the Government’s decision to dig a deep-water navigation channel through Ukraine’s portion of the Danube Delta Bilateral Biosphere Reserve.
On February 10, 2004, the Commercial Court of Kyiv rendered a decision to sustain the suit by EPL against the Ministry of Environment Protection of Ukraine. The court based EPL’s locus standi on the Aarhus Convention, which Ukraine had ratified, even though the State had not yet adopted implementing legislation to guarantee locus standi to ensure access to justice. This case is expected to be published in a forthcoming UNEP compendium of judicial decisions.
The court held that the public was not given a possibility to participate in EIA and, thus, their rights were violated. Thus, the court ruled that the consent by the Ministry of Environment regarding construction of the canal was illegal and the decision was invalid.
Information on other legal actions filed before different international bodies is set forth in a case study following Guideline 17
, above.
For more information, contact Mr. Andriy Andrusevych at aandrus@mail.lviv.ua