Ministry issues call for evidence on access to justice and Aarhus Convention

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has issued a call for evidence seeking views on options to bring the UK’s policies into compliance with its obligation under the access to justice provision of the Aarhus Convention.

The Aarhus Convention sets out obligations on parties to make provisions for the public to access environmental information, to participate in environmental decision-making and to access justice when challenging environmental decisions. The UK is one of 47 parties.

The MoJ said: “One of the Convention’s core aims is to ensure access to justice in environmental matters. The Convention’s monitoring body, the Aarhus Convention’s Compliance Committee, has found the UK to be non-compliant with the Convention and has made several recommendations about matters on which the UK must take action to bring its policies into compliance with the Convention.

“The government is committed to ensuring that the UK upholds its international law obligations under the Aarhus Convention. In publishing this call for evidence, the Government aims to gather views on the Compliance Committee’s recommendations regarding access to justice to determine the best way to reach compliance.”

The government is seeking views on “whether the recommendations should be implemented in England and Wales in light of the potential implications, or whether there are suitable alternatives which could better deliver the desired effect of bringing the UK into compliance”.

This call for evidence focuses on the compliance issues for England and Wales identified by the Compliance Committee only. The Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are responsible for how the relevant compliance issues are addressed in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The call for evidence, which can be viewed here, closes on 9 December 2024.