Access to Environmental Justice for NGOs: Interplay between the Aarhus Convention, EU Treaty of Lisbon and the European Convention on Human Rights

Within Europe there is an overlap between the treaty regimes of the ECHR, EU and that of Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice (‘Aarhus Convention’). The majority of the member states are party to all three conventions and the European Union is also party to the Aarhus Convention. This chapter explores the interplay of the three treaty regimes and takes as point of departure the (procedural) right of access to environmental justice for NGOs as guaranteed by the Aarhus Convention. It will be examined how this right is shaped in Europe considering the complex relationship between the three conventions, with each having their own oversight mechanism and no clear hierarchy established. Recent case law of the CJEU and the ECtHR will be taken into account when answering the question whether this interaction between the treaty regimes and overlapping mandates may lead to a constitutionalization of the access right to environmental justice for NGOs or at minimum to a further development of the right at stake. Keywords Access to environmental justice, interaction between treaty regimes, Aarhus Convention, European Union, European Convention on Human Rights