Information, Participation and Access to Justice: the Model of the Aarhus Convention

This background paper delivered by Jonas Ebbeson of Stockholm University to the Joint UNEP-OHCHR Expert Seminar on Human Rights and the Environment (14-16 January 2002, Geneva) gives a brief overview of the developments that led to the adoption of the Aarhus Convention. The author analyzes the Convention's specificity, objective, structure and context. Unique among UNECE environmental conventions, the Aarhus Convention makes it possible for states outside the region to accede to the treaty.(Original source: http://www.unhchr.ch/environment/bp5.html)