Europeanisation of Access to Justice in Environmental Matters: The Aarhus Convention in the Balkans

This book analyses the ways in which Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention enables environmental access to justice in the Balkans, a region at the epicentre of extreme climate change events. Adopting a law-in-context approach, the chapters explore national cultures and driving forces shaping the implementation of Aarhus standards in Albania, Croatia, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and Serbia, paving the way for their comparative assessment. The book combines EU law and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights with the bottom-up Europeanisation brought about by rising environmental protests and the activism of civil society organisations in the region. In doing so, it explores the extent to which these Balkan countries comply with requirements stemming from Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention, and whether, despite national differences, it is possible to talk about Europeanisation of access to justice in environmental matters. The interdisciplinary approach and geographical scope of the book make it an important read for academics and practitioners, as well as for the civil society sector and policy makers grappling with the normative and practical challenges around environmental access to justice – both in and beyond Europe.

Table of Contents:
Introduction, Bojana Todorovic (University of Belgrade, Serbia) and Roberto Caranta (University of Turin, Italy) Part I: Access to Justice in Environmental Matters at the European Level: Instruments of Europeanisation 1. Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention, its Transposition in the EU and its Interpretation by the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee and the Court of Justice of the European Union: In Search of an 'EU Effect'? Mariolina Eliantonio (Maastricht University, the Netherlands) and Justine Richelle (Hasselt University, Belgium) 2. The Impact of the Right of Access to Justice under the Aarhus Convention on the Greening of the European Court of Human Rights, Carmen Plaza (Complutense University, Spain) 3. Environmental Access to Justice in the Balkans Through the Lens of EU Enlargement: Between Top-down and Bottom-up Europeanisation, Bojana Todorovic (University of Belgrade, Serbia) Part II: National Perspectives: Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in Selected Balkan Countries 4. Environmental Justice Accessibility in Albania, Franc Terihati (Centre for Legal Empowerment, Albania) 5. Implementation of Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention in Croatia: Is the Door Open or Shut? Examining Barriers to Access to Justice, Lana Ofak (University of Zagreb, Croatia) and Marko Turudic (University of Zagreb, Croatia) 6. The Implementation of the Aarhus Convention in the Republic of North Macedonia: Limited Tools and Capacity for Environmental Justice, Frosina Antonovska Joskoska (Climate Action Network Europe, North Macedonia) and Konstantin Bitrakov (University in Skopje, North Macedonia) 7. The Aarhus Convention in Romania: Challenges Regarding Access to Justice and Actio Popularis, Gheorghe-Sorin Lodoaba-Cordon, Dacian C Dragos and Bogdana Neamtu (Babes-Bolyai University, Romania) 8. The Greening of General and Special Administrative Procedures to Implement the Aarhus Convention: The Case of Serbia, Mirjana Drenovak-Ivanovic (University of Belgrade, Serbia) 9. Access to Justice in Environmental Matters from the Perspective of Slovenian Law, Katja Štemberger Brizani (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia) Part III: Comparative Assessment 10. Administrative Review as an Instrument to Enforce Article 9 of the Aarhus Convention, Giacomo Gattinara (University of Rome, Italy) 11. A Comparative Perspective on Environmental Access to Justice in the Balkans: The Role of Europeanisation and the Rising Importance of Rights, Roberto Caranta (University of Turin, Italy) and Bojana Todorovic (University of Belgrade, Serbia)

About the Author :
Bojana Todorovic is Lecturer in Administrative Law at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. Roberto Caranta is Professor of Law at the University of Turin, Italy.