Aarhus Convention Promoting Transparency in Land Administration Aphrodite Smagadi Legal Affairs Officer Aarhus Convention Secretariat Environment, Housing and Land Management Division United Nations Economic Commission for Europe

Aarhus Convention 1998 Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters Land – substantive and procedural rights Instruments – the Aarhus Convention Origins and evolution of the Aarhus Convention Content overview Areas of activity

Land tenure and substantive rights Land = minerals (including oil and natural gas) and environmental resource (forest land) Economic rights - investment and profit for all Environmental rights - right to a healthy environment for the present and future generations

Land tenure and procedural rights Procedural rights materialize substantive rights –Clear and accessible system (access to information) –A system that reflects the beliefs of the people who use it (public participation) Failure of the system to support procedural rights=> –Rise of transactional costs –Inefficiency –Failure of substantive rights

Technology determines the modalities for public access Policy determines which information is made public

Instruments promoting procedural rights 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development Principle 10 Aarhus Convention 1998 Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters National legislation

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE CONVENTION June 1992Principle 10 of Rio Declaration Environmental issues are best handled with participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level. At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities, including information on hazardous materials and activities in their communities, and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided.

ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF THE CONVENTION June 1992Principle 10 of Rio Declaration (taken up within EfE) Oct 1995Adoption of UNECE Guidelines on Access to Environmental Information and Public Participation in Decision-making (Sofia Guidelines) 1996 – 1998Negotiation of the draft Convention 25 June 1998Adoption of the Convention at the 4 th Ministerial “Environment for Europe” Conference, Aarhus Denmark. Signed by 39 countries and the European Community 30 Oct 2001Entry into force Oct 20021st Meeting of the Parties (MoP 1) (Lucca, Italy) May 2003ExMoP: adoption of the Protocol on PRTR (Kiev, Ukraine) May 2005MoP 2 (Almaty, Kazakhstan) June 2008MoP 3 (Riga, Latvia) 8 Oct 2009Entry into force of PRTR Protocol

GENERAL FEATURES Each Party to establish and maintain a clear, transparent and consistent framework to implement the Convention Citizens’ rights: Procedural – to information, participation and justice Substantive – right to a healthy environment, intergenerational equity Broad definitions of the “public”, the “public authorities”, “environmental information” Anti-harassment, non-discrimination provisions Rights irrespective of citizenship, nationality or residence Compliance review arrangements Open to non-ECE countries 44 Parties (including the European Union)

THE THREE ‘PILLARS’ INFORMATION PARTICIPATION DEMOCRACY/RULE OF LAW AARHUS CONVENTION JUSTICE

ACCESS TO INFORMATION Passive aspect (article 4) Any person has access (no need to state interest) Information to be provided ‘as soon as possible’ Charges not to exceed reasonable amount Limited set of exemptions, with restrictive interpretation (potential effects of disclosure must be adverse, public interest to be taken into account, intellectual property rights) Proactive aspect (article 5) Transparency and accessibility of information systems Dissemination of international agreements, laws, policies, strategies, programmes, actions relating to the environment Increased access to information (lists/registers)

Convention’s definition environmental information “Environmental information” means any information in written, visual, aural, electronic or any other material form on: (a) The state of elements of the environment, such as air and atmosphere, water, soil, land, landscape and natural sites, biological diversity and its components, including genetically modified organisms, and the interaction among these elements; (b) Factors, such as substances, energy, noise and radiation, and activities or measures, including administrative measures, environmental agreements, policies, legislation, plans and programmes, affecting or likely to affect the elements of the environment within the scope of subparagraph (a) above, and cost-benefit and other economic analyses and assumptions used in environmental decision-making;

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Specific Projects or Activities (article 6) List of types of activity covered (Annex I) Timely and effective notification Reasonable timeframes Free inspection of relevant information by public concerned Comments in writing or public hearing Taken into account in decision-making Programmes and Plans (article 7): “appropriate practical and/or other provisions for the public to participate” during the preparation reasonable timeframes, early participation outcome of public participation taken into account Policies (article 7): Policies (article 7): general obligation, but only “to the extent appropriate” Rules and regulations (article 8): Rules and regulations (article 8): strive to promote effective public participation in rules, regulation and other legally binding instruments that may have a significant impact on the environment.

ACCESS TO JUSTICE Review procedures in relation to information requests (open to any requester) public participation in decision-making (open to public concerned having sufficient interest or whose rights impaired) violations of national environmental law (great discretion to national legislator) Procedures to be fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive Decisions in writing, court decisions publicly accessible Injunctive relief 'as appropriate‘ Mechanisms to remove financial barriers to be considered

AREAS OF ACTIVITY in brief Pollutant release and transfer registers (Protocol) Genetically modified organisms: amendment to the Convention (MoP2) establishing public participation procedure for GMO decision- making (Art. 6 bis and annex I bis) Access to justice: task force to exchange information and promote good practices Electronic information tools: task force to exchange information and promote good practices Public participation: task force to be set up at exMoP in April 2010 Public participation in international forums: task force (Almaty) Clearinghouse for Environmental Democracy:

AARHUS MODEL OF LAND GOVERNANCE Access to information in land administration Transparency: the right to be informed and to have access to information is a prerequisite of any democratic society Accountability of centers of authority Transparency of information held by centers of authority, allows stakeholders (citizens) to: –Be informed –Access the information –Understand it –Use it

AARHUS MODEL OF LAND GOVERNANCE Public participation in land administration Participation => –Educates the public about the authorities’ activities –Decisions are endorsed/representative vs. participatory democracy –Public support for activities

MORE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON THE AARHUS CONVENTION WEBSITE: AND ALSO ON THE CLEARINGHOUSE: