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The UNECE Aarhus Convention Secretariat, in cooperation with the Project Coordination Office (PCO) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine and the Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, is organizing a seminar on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in the EECCA region in Kiev, Ukraine, on the 4-5 June 2007. The workshop is part of a series of sub-regional seminars for high-level members of the judiciary.
"I am pleased to acknowledge that OSCE and the Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention are exploring ways to promote the principles of the Convention, especially with respect to the access to justice in environmental matters, " said Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyabé, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Spain. Minister Cuyabé's statement was made in a keynote address delivered before the Sixtieth Anniversary Session of the UNECE, on 26 April 2007. The Secretariat has invited five judges from the high courts and a representative of judicial academies, or similar institutions, from each of the participating countries to attend the seminar. The judges and academicians will discuss how the issues of access to justice in environmental matters could be addressed in the curricula of the respective institutions. Several environmental law experts from within and outside the region are also invited to bring their specific knowledge and views into the discussion. The aim of the seminar is to explore assistance mechanisms to remove or reduce financial and other barriers to access to justice, increase awareness and build capacity for better implementation of the Aarhus provisions. The seminar will also provide a platform for an exchange of views and sharing of experiences on the basis of the comparison of legislation and cases in each participating country.
Although the obligations under the Convention are primarily addressed towards the executive branch of government, the Convention's Task Force on Access to Justice had considered that the judiciary plays a crucial role in implementation of the access to justice provisions. The findings of the Compliance Committee also point to the key role of the judiciary. For more information, see http://www.unece.org/env/pp/a.to.j.htm#Workshops.
"I am pleased to acknowledge that OSCE and the Secretariat of the Aarhus Convention are exploring ways to promote the principles of the Convention, especially with respect to the access to justice in environmental matters, " said Miguel Ángel Moratinos Cuyabé, OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Spain. Minister Cuyabé's statement was made in a keynote address delivered before the Sixtieth Anniversary Session of the UNECE, on 26 April 2007. The Secretariat has invited five judges from the high courts and a representative of judicial academies, or similar institutions, from each of the participating countries to attend the seminar. The judges and academicians will discuss how the issues of access to justice in environmental matters could be addressed in the curricula of the respective institutions. Several environmental law experts from within and outside the region are also invited to bring their specific knowledge and views into the discussion. The aim of the seminar is to explore assistance mechanisms to remove or reduce financial and other barriers to access to justice, increase awareness and build capacity for better implementation of the Aarhus provisions. The seminar will also provide a platform for an exchange of views and sharing of experiences on the basis of the comparison of legislation and cases in each participating country.
Although the obligations under the Convention are primarily addressed towards the executive branch of government, the Convention's Task Force on Access to Justice had considered that the judiciary plays a crucial role in implementation of the access to justice provisions. The findings of the Compliance Committee also point to the key role of the judiciary. For more information, see http://www.unece.org/env/pp/a.to.j.htm#Workshops.
