1. The European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment Prof. Dr. L. Lavrysen Justice Belgian Constitutional Court President EUFJE

2. Context UNEP’s Global Judges Symposium on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, August 2002) Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development Judges should promote the implementation, development and enforcement of international and national law relating to the environment and sustainable development Need for training – regional and sub-regional cooperation

3. The European Union Forum of Judges for the Environment European Union = very important environmental law maker: 70 to 90 % of domestic environmental law is now EU driven 28 Member States – more states applying for membership 500 million people Diversity of legal systems – civil law/ common law/mixture Important role of the Court of Justice of the European Union

4. Creation of the Forum: February 2004 Mr. Guy Canivet (than First President Cour de Cassation – France) Lord Robert Carnwath (UK) Justice Amedeo Postiglione (Italy) Justice Luc Lavrysen (Belgium) Aim: Exchange of experiences in area of training of the judiciary in environmental law

5. Contribute to a better knowledge of environmental law Share experiences with environmental case law Contribute to a more effective enforcement of environmental law Membership: Open for all judges within the EU (and EEA) with a special interest in environmental law Judges from states that have applied for membership can follow activities as observers

6. Supported by DG Environment of the European Commission Annual Conferences: The Hague 2004: organisation of the national judiciaries in relation tot environmental law – training in the field of environmental law London 2005: waste legislation and case law Helsinki 2006: nature protection

7. Luxembourg 2007: criminal enforcement of environmental law Paris 2008: soil pollution Stockholm 2009: integrated pollution prevention and control Brussels 2010: application of European biodiversity law at national level Warsaw 2011: environmental protection and land use planning

8. The Hague 2012: national judges and EU Environmental Law Vienna 2013: access to justice in environmental matters Budapest 2014: environmental impact assessment 2015 ? Rome, Brussels or Cambridge (with ENPE) ECHR and environmental protection or Enforcement

10. Other activities: Involvement in working bodies of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) Task Force on Access to Justice Training for Judges in different sub-regions (Kiev, Tirana, Tbilisi..) OSCE activities in this field (Belgrade…)

11. Developing dialog between EU national judges in EU Environmental Law Training programme sponsored by EC in collaboration with national judicial training institutes – training seminars on nature, waste, EIA… Advisory committees DG Environment (inspections, access to justice..) UNEP - World Congress of Chief Justices, Attorneys General and Auditors General

12. Collaboration with ENPE (European Network of Public Prosecutors for the Environment) http://www.environmentalprosecutors.eu http://www.environmentalprosecutors.eu IMPEL (European Union Network for the Implementation and Enforcement of Environmental Law) http://impel.eu/ INTERPOL http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental- http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental- crime/ INECE (International Network for Environmental Compliance and Enforcement) www.inece.orgwww.inece.org

13. More information www.eufje.org