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ClientEarth Communications

17th August 2020

EU

Virtual conference on access to justice in environmental matters

The body of EU environmental law is one of the most advanced and comprehensive in the world. But Europe’s environment is rapidly deteriorating.  Strong legislative and regulatory frameworks are not providing the results they should because they are not properly implemented and enforced.

This lack of implementation and enforcement is due, in part, to access to justice issues. Despite being guaranteed by the Aarhus Convention, access to justice unfortunately remains unattainable for many individuals and environmental organisations across Europe.

To reflect on this matter, we have the pleasure to invite you to our conference:

“Access to justice in environmental matters: obstacles, impacts and ways forward”

15 & 16 October 2020

Join representatives from EU institutions and Member State authorities, legal professionals, judges and NGO representatives from all over Europe to discuss and share insights on access to justice in environmental matters.

This conference marks the end of a three year project promoting access to justice in environmental matters, carried out with Justice&Environment and funded by the European Commission LIFE programme.

The event will be composed of the following sessions:

Session 1 : Strategic litigation to make the green transition happen

Keynote speech: Áine Ryall, Co-Director of the Centre for Law & the Environment at University College Cork and vice-Chair of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee

Speakers: Onno W. Brouwer, Partner & Joint head of Global Antitrust Litigation Group, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP; Aurel Ciobanu-Dordea, Representative from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for the Environment; Anais Berthier, Head of EU Affairs, ClientEarth.

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Session 2 : Overview of access to justice in four national jurisdictions

Speakers: Ana Barreira, Senior Environmental Lawyer, Director and founding member of the International Institute for Law and the Environment (IIDMA, Spain); Kadi-Kaisa Kaljuveer, Environmental lawyer, Estonian Environmental Law Center (EELC); Kathleen Pauleweit, Environmental lawyer, Independent Institute for Environmental Issues (UfU, Germany); Arnaud Schwartz, President of France Nature Environnement (FNE).

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Session 3 : How to promote access rights

Speakers: Prof. Dr. Luc Lavrysen, judge of the Constitutional Court of Belgium and President of the EU Forum of Judges for the Environment; Jerzy Jendroska Ph.D, Environmental lawyer, Managing Partner at Jendrośka Jerzmański Bar and Partner, Adjunct Professor at Opole University (Poland) and member of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee; Dr. Csaba Kiss, Environmental Attorney, Environmental Management and Law Association (EMLA) and Coordinator of the Justice & Environment network; Marie Toussaint, Member of the European Parliament and foundress of “Notre affaire à tous”.

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Session 4 : Strategic litigation in practice

Speakers: Dr. Caroline Douhaire, Environmental lawyer in the Dieselgate case, Geulen & Klinger Rechtsanwälte; Agata Szafraniuk, Wildlife lawyer in the Białowieża case, ClientEarthDennis van Berkel, Lawyer in the Urgenda Climate case, Urgenda Foundation; RA Dr. Lorenz E. Riegler, Lawyer in the Protect Natur case; Andrew Jackson, Lawyer in the Climate case Ireland on behalf of the Friends of the Irish Environment (FIE).

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The project

Access to Justice is a fundamental means through which citizens and NGOs can support the implementation and enforcement of laws and policies to protect the environment. The goal of this ATOJ-EARL project is to achieve “Access to Justice for a Greener Europe”. It strives to enhance access to justice in environmental matters by providing information, training and support for the judiciary, public authorities and lawyers of eight European member states. ClientEarth and Justice and Environment are implementing this project with the financial support of the European Commission’s LIFE instrument.