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The right to bring an action before a court for the protection of the environment is subject to very different regimes in the various domestic legal systems. The question is to what extent an individual or a non-governmental organization should be entitled to act in behalf of a general character's interest, such as the environment protection. In some countries, only some State organs can bring such actions; in others, some non-governmental organizations also have guaranteed access to courts under specific conditions; in others, every person, whether he/she is directly affected or not, can ask for legal remedies. The paper discusses a few relevant cases where different approaches have been followed according to the legislation and decisions of some countries (India, Argentina, the United States, and the Philippines). It also focuses the uniform regime established under the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters (Aarhus, 1998). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]