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In Verein KlimaSeniorinnen Schweiz and Others v. Switzerland , the European Court of Human Rights issued its first climate-change-related decision. In a near-unanimous decision, the Grand Chamber of the Court found that Switzerland had breached its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights. It held that the Alpine state must review and amend its climate change policies accordingly. In this case note, we highlight the key points of the judgment and comment briefly on certain points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article situates Rosalind Dixon's Responsive Judicial Review in constitutional legal literature and engages with its central message by introducing the idea of constitutional courts as accessible democratic institutions. It compares constitutional review in a well-functioning and a declining democracy. After considering the relationship between democratic self-government and constitutional review, the article argues that a lawfully established, accessible, yet reasonably self-restraining constitutional court with the power of procedural and substantive review can be understood as a democratic institution. To support this claim, the article offers the example of Hungary, where democratization coincided with the birth of accessible constitutional review and where the decay of democracy has been accompanied by the decline of constitutional review. It concludes that constitutional justices can always have a choice. They can contribute to an autocratic transformation or resist the autocratic government by performing a Herculean task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Third Party Funding (TPF) is presented as a tool to help fund the cost of expensive litigation. In the context of Investment Arbitration, however, TPF has instead led to the commodification of justice, and raises concerns around its assetization. Arbitration often comes at a net loss for States, and the extraordinary expenditures required may pique the interest of third party funders who wish to profit from suing States. A two-fold movement contributed to the assetization process of TPF. The first movement was to package TPF as a tool to ensure access to justice, and the second was to assert a 'funding gap' in access to justice that ad hoc TPF alone could not address. TPF leads to more claims and riskier claims against States and increases the risk of crippling compensation. This requires States to allocate public funds to the cost of litigation, rather than to other necessary public services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Proposal of the Directive regarding the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence provides new judicial protection for environmental damages and climate litigation caused by corporations, even in an extraterritorial context, considering the Directive's scope of application. This prompts a discussion about the exercise of an extraterritorial jurisdiction by Member States' courts. At European Union level, the titles of jurisdiction, identified in the Brussels I Recast Regulation, allow foreign victims to proceed before the court of a Member State, but only if the parent company is established in that specific Member State. Otherwise, these criteria are generally considered inadequate and insufficient. The proposed Directive seems to be a new opportunity to reform the European private international law, aligning it with the right to access to justice, as provided by Article 10 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Individuals and non-governmental organizations' access to justice in environmental matters may be hindered by a variety of obstacles, such as the fulfillment of legal standing conditions. In this regard, the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention), on its Article 9(3), imposes on each State Party the obligation to ensure members of the public, "where they meet the criteria, if any, laid down in its national law", to have access to justice in order to challenge any violation of national environmental law. In this contribution, I focus on this provision with the purpose of assessing its normative content regarding the criteria for legal standing. To this end, I analyze the interpretation of Article 9(3) given by the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC), as well as the relevant case law of domestic courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gulati arrives at the conclusion that the decisional independence of the UN's tribunals is lacking (Gulati, p. 82). While first conceptualising access to justice as a person's ability to pursue a legitimate claim or complaint (Gulati, p. 14), the author then links it to the specific human rights obligation to provide a right to a fair trial (Gulati, pp. 15 et seq.). One may also wonder whether the difficulty of adapting immunity regimes which Johansen characterises as "firmly entrenched in treaties that provide unequivocally for absolute jurisdiction immunity" (Johansen, p. 300), is more than a technical obstacle. In Gulati's view, once national courts have affirmed that they have jurisdiction they would have to address immunity claims, which they should reject where their exercise of jurisdiction would not "impede the performance of the specific tasks assigned to an IO" (Gulati, p. 202). [Extracted from the article]

Recently municipal courts have found that foreign states do not enjoy jurisdictional immunity with respect to civil claims involving serious violations of international law within the forum state's territory during armed conflict. This article assesses the recent judgments' potential impact, taking into account previous court practice and international human rights jurisprudence. It concludes that an exception to immunity in the above circumstances where no alternative judicial remedies exist for the victims has a basis in previous practice and may be required to give effect to international human rights obligations. A recognition by the foreign state of an individual victims' right to bring a claim before that state's courts could provide the victims with reparation in the form of satisfaction. Where no such possibility exists, a limited exception to the rule of state immunity would ensure the victims' right to access to court and to the truth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The formal justice sector in Sri Lanka is almost entirely reliant on physical interactions within the courtroom. Sri Lanka has committed to providing access to justice for all under both domestic and international law. Unfortunately, substantive access to justice for all continues to elude the marginalised. The global pandemic which emerged in January 2020 has thrown a further challenge on this already burdened system. The litigants, lawyers and judges who had relied on an already flawed system are now further physically distanced from the formal justice system. This means that these actors must now seek to ensure that access to justice is restored, albeit without full physical access to courtrooms. This article examines how Covid-19 challenged the dispensation of substantive justice in the formal justice system in order to suggest ways to mitigate these challenges. It discusses the challenges faced by lawyers and litigants during the period 14 March to 15 November 2020. This includes how the physical aspects of dispensation of the day-to-day caseload were resolved, and the strategies that were practised by lawyers, judges and litigants to circumvent these obstacles and challenges. Drawing on postcolonial feminist critique, information gathered through both primary data (gathering of qualitative and quantitative primary data) and secondary data (desk review of laws, regulations and rules), this article attempts to obtain insights into what challenges were experienced by marginalised communities and how these challenges were mitigated by the justice sector. The author applies the strategies used by persons who engaged with courtrooms in the midst of Covid-19 to the theoretical definitions of what justice should look like in an equal society. The article arrives at an understanding of the dispensation of justice during the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the role that National Human Rights Institutions play in guaranteeing access to justice for national minorities. Based on the OSCE HCNM Graz Recommendations on Access to Justice and National Minorities, this study aims at identifying commons issues and good practices by comparing rules and practices concerning minority representation in NHRIs, NHRIs' focus on national minority issues, and NHRIs' role in providing access to justice for national minorities. Separate subsections cover collective-groups' complaints and the relevance of groups during investigations; regional offices; and websites, languages, and online complaints. The conclusion highlights that protecting access to justice for national minorities entails both more 'focus' and 'access'. More focus should be guaranteed by relevant legislation and NHRIs' annual reports through separate chapters or sections on minorities. More access includes minority representation in NHRIs, regional offices, groups' complaints, multilingual and easy-to-access websites, as well as online tools for complaints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Centuries of interpretation by sophisticated Roman jurists developed a comprehensive and nuanced law of damage to personal property, based on the republican lex Aquilia. This lex originated from a plebiscite and the plebeians must have pursued a comprehensible political purpose. That purpose is to be found in the 'access to justice' problem inherent in the legis actio per sacramentum procedure, which hindered cash-poor plebeians from engaging in adversarial trials. This grievance became pressing in the aftermath of the last secessio plebis (ca. 287 BCE) when vast amounts of property damage and destruction awaited judicial redress. For the most heinous deeds, the killing of slaves and cattle, a manus iniectio procedure was instituted that incentivised uncontested payment of reparations based on a confessio in iure. In the context of this reform, other elements of the lex Aquilia can be reconsidered, inter alia the reliance on a price from the preceding year and the mysterious Chapter II. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In South Africa, a number of obstructions exist to realising the right to access to justice as enshrined by section 34 of the South African constitution. Globally, many countries grapple with access to justice due to a number of multi-layered and complex causes. This article explores traces, connections, definitions and perceptions related to access to justice so as to allow for a deeper understanding of persisting justice problems. It employs a multi-disciplinary approach that examines worldviews on access to justice in South Africa through the lens of what Sohail Inayatullah terms 'other ways of knowing'. These worldviews are also considered through the framework of the 'ethic of care' as formulated by Carol Gilligan and connected to the notion of 'complexity' as understood by Yvonne Malan and Paul Cilliers. The worldviews explored represent 'different voices' that discloses a possibility for a future of justice inclusion. The article calls for a people-centred approach to access of justice, underpinned by notions of humility, complexity, concreteness, and particularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the developments in the social justice function of clinical legal education in African countries. It is based on a systematic review conducted to provide conceptual, methodological and thematic guidance into scholarship on the utilisation of clinical legal education in African countries to meet justice needs of the indigent in society. The results are analysed and clustered into themes about scholarship on the law school, the university law clinic and challenges encountered in this endeavour. The narrative findings suggest an increased application of clinical legal education as a result of reforms in African law schools although this increase is not supported by a corresponding increase in related research and publication. The article therefore highlights gaps in knowledge and delineates a future trajectory by making suggestions for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two recent judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the Corte di Cassazione added further elements to the current debate on the limits to State immunity. The peculiarities of the facts of the two cases - which relate to the same events - brought the two courts to revisit the current state of play of international law vis-à-vis State immunity with respect to the delegation of public powers to private actors and the right of access to justice. In the present contribution, it is argued that these decisions might contribute to the evolution of customary international law on State immunity, paving the way for a more restrictive interpretation of the rule, at least at the European level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In such "exceptional cases", to use the words of the Directive, Member States may seek to remedy the situation on public-health grounds, in accordance with Article 52 and Article 62 TFEU.[21] The outbreak of Covid-19 is indeed exceptional. Thus, the Court pointed out, the health-insurance system of the Member State of affiliation is not faced with the risk of additional costs, as it would be under Regulation 883/2004.[10] Given this, the Court concluded, a refusal to grant authorisation cannot generally be justified under the terms of the Directive. Member States are still reluctant to accept the case law emphasising the fundamental freedom of individuals to engage health services in other Member States - a case law which is largely codified in the Cross-Border Healthcare Directive. Article 20 of Regulation 883/2004 states that, when two conditions are fulfilled, the Member State of affiliation (or the "competent institution", in the words of the Regulation) is obliged to authorise a person to go to another Member State in order to receive appropriate treatment there. [Extracted from the article]

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 25 June 1998 in the Danish city of Aarhus. According to its provisions each state Part shall, within the framework of the national legal order, ensure that members of the public concerned have access to a review procedure before a court of law or another independent and impartial body established by law. At the same time, it contains regulations specifying the criteria that constitute the basis for determining persons enjoying rights to access justice with respect to national legal orders. Poland, being one of the state Parties, introduced into national legal order special provisions enabling implementation of the Aarhus Convention, including regulations concerning parties to proceedings in environmental matters. The aim of the study is to analyse and assess these regulations in the light of the requirements adopted in the Aarhus Convention and to formulate general conclusions in the field of key issues of the international and European environmental law and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyzes the CJEU Judgment in the A. Flausch et al case, which concerns the compatibility of the Greek procedural rules relating to specific aspects of the public participation in the EIA context and to a specific aspect of access to justice (time limit) with the respective EU Law provisions in the face of the increasing use of digital technologies in the public participation procedures. This ruling is important, because it sets limits to the procedural autonomy of MS when it comes to the rules that are applied to the EIA-related disputes and those that concern the public participation arrangements. It demonstrates, though, the lack of a steady line in the Court's jurisprudence concerning the standards for assessing the national procedural rules and the role of Article 47 CFR. Moreover, the Court did not lay the ground for an interpretation of the ΕU public participation provisions in a way that an obligation for taking measures could be established, with the aim to ensure equal participation opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional judicial bodies all serve to protect, interpret, and develop the law of the community in which they are established. While they share these common objectives, differences in admissibility, procedure rules, and jurisdiction can be noted. This study aims to shed light on differences in the design of jurisdictions; specifically, it explores whether they impact the efficiency of such courts. Our hypothesis is that institutional design can be used to fix issues – such as enforcement – that some Courts of Justice face. To test this theory, the study focuses on the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States. Using rational design theory, the study of the Court’s case law, its history, and empirical observations, we found that the particularities in admissibility and procedural rules, as well as the scope of the Court’s jurisdiction, were established to bypass some issues linked to the lack of access to justice and weak rule of law in the area. The innovative institutional design allowed the court to be more efficient and helped to establish it as an alternative to national courts for citizens, which in turn promoted the rule of law in the region. However, some problems were left unsolved, and the Court today again faces issues it had managed to avoid in the past. This study concludes that institutional design can serve to create a more efficient judicial body, especially in complex regions. However, there is a risk of only observing short term effects if the adjustments made do not maintain a certain institutional equilibrium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines four categories of litigation that were undertaken in the wake of the suspension of the SADC Tribunal. The first category of proceedings concerned a claim and request for an advisory opinion under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (African Charter); the second related to arbitration proceedings based on the SADC Protocol on Finance and Investment (FIP); the third focussed on proceedings regarding the potential unconstitutionality of a government's participation in the suspension of the SADC Tribunal; while the fourth concerned conflicts between the SADC and employees before the Botswana High Court. In analysing these proceedings, the article assesses whether litigation thus far undertaken is likely to increase pressure on SADC member states to reinstate some form of individual complaints procedure before the SADC Tribunal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article present the key elements of the access to justice pillar of the Arhus Convention against the background of its legislative history, conceptual approaches and motivations laying behind certain provisions. On this basis, the article identifies and briefly indicates the main interpretation dilemmas regarding specific provisions of paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Article 9 as well as those which apply to access to justice pillar as a whole, in particular the interpretation dilemmas regarding the internal relations between these provisions and the role of this pillar in relation to the other pillars, in particular the public participation pillar. The conclusion is that while the structure of Article 9 is quite clear, as a result of the negotiations certain terms or formulations were introduced which not always convey a clear legal norm and therefore require a thorough examination and certain interpretation. In this context a holistic approach is advocated with the aim to see the Convention as certain logical system in which textual (literal) interpretation of the Convention's provisions is supplemented with – and give priority to – the systemic, purposive and even historical interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real and perceived risks of deportation may compromise the effective right of irregular migrants to report to the police if they have been a victim of crime. Some localities have therefore introduced so-called 'firewall protection', providing a clear separation between the provision of public services and immigration enforcement. This article explores one such policy in the Netherlands: 'free in, free out'. While the policy began as a local pilot project, in 2015 it was introduced at the national-level alongside implementation of EU Victim's Rights Directive, and currently represents the only national-level example of 'firewall protection' for victims of crime in Europe. This article is based on a socio-legal study that included interviews with informants from governmental and non-governmental organisations. It documents the legal and social reasons for instituting the policy, while critically assessing the challenges in implementation. Finally, it discusses the lessons and opportunities for expanding firewall protection more broadly in a European context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper passes in review the different pieces of legislation and court judgments which were issued until now as regards rights of nature, and critically comments on their impact. In a first section, the legislation, including the constitutional texts of some countries, will be presented. In a second section, the implementation of the different measures will be discussed, also with a view, whether the EU could learn from the trend to give natural assets rights of their own. Short concluding remarks will end the contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Aarhus Convention aims to democratize environmental decision-making. Since its adoption 20 years ago, the Aarhus Convention has led to a fundamental change in German environmental administration. This article explores the administrative capacities, organizational structures and enforcement requirements, identifies challenges for environmental authorities and outlines prospects for better implementing the Aarhus Convention. The main challenges are: extended responsibilities for authorities, greater complexity of environmental decisions, increased transparency, more external communication, stricter procedural requirements, extended access to justice and the reduction of enforcement deficits. The success of the Aarhus Convention largely depends on high-capacity administration, which adapts its way of decision-making to these challenges. In addition, substantive environmental law is the foundation upon which the three pillars of the Aarhus Convention rest. Therefore, this article argues that legal instruments and a high level of substantive environmental law are essential for environmental authorities to achieve effectively the objective of the Aarhus Convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spite of the common global position of protecting the right to confidential communication, the Japanese prison authorities create barriers to communication between pre-trial inmates and defence counsel. Any correspondence, including correspondence between pre-trial inmates and defence counsel, may be opened and read by prison staff. In addition, prison authorities have established regulations to prohibit any visitors from bringing in cameras or mobile phones. They do not allow counsel to take photos in visiting rooms, claiming that these regulations are equally applicable to lawyers. This article examines the legality of the current practice regarding mail censorship and the prohibition of photography in visiting rooms, taking into consideration international human rights standards. It concludes that the current practice diverges from the international human rights standards including the Nelson Mandela Rules, which protects the full confidentiality of communication between inmates and lawyers, and access to effective legal aid. Since the arrest of Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn in November 2018, Japan's 'hostage justice' system – in which suspects are held for a long period in harsh conditions to coerce a confession – has encountered a barrage of criticism. It should be noted, however, that interruption of inmates-defence counsel communication constitutes another dark side of Japanese criminal justice. This article will shed light on the everyday issues which Japanese defence counsel face in actual criminal cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right to a remedy is central to a human rights approach to climate change. However, a range of obstacles inhibit access to justice for victims of human rights violations caused by climate change. This article considers two elements of the right to a remedy: access to justice and substantive redress. In relation to access to justice, it considers the potential of domestic courts, as well as regional and international bodies, to offer redress for human rights violations caused by climate change. In relation to substantive redress, it examines international jurisprudence on remedies and discusses its applicability in the context of climate change. Together, these discussions provide an insight into the obstacles to justice for human rights violations caused by climate change and the ways in which these may be overcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reconsiders the generally accepted view around UN peacekeeping, and focuses on ways to enable access to judicial remedies for victims as a solution to fill the prevailing "accountability gap." This article shows that the concept is not necessarily synonymous with access to justice. Providing access to justice for the victims can be an essential factor in holding UN peacekeeping legally accountable. However, judicial review is not everything in terms of accountability. This article also analyzes the possibilities and limitations of quasi-judicial mechanisms, namely the Independent Accountability Mechanisms of International Financial Institutions and the Human Rights Advisory Panel of the UN Interim Mission in Kosovo, from the perspective of legal accountability. It shows that these mechanisms have contributed to holding the organizations concerned legally accountable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although formally provided for in particular statutes, certain international administrative tribunals continue to hold oral hearings—if at all—only on the rarest of occasions. With specific attention to the International Labour Organization Administrative Tribunal, the present paper aims 1) at recapitulating essential holdings of the European Court of Human Rights with regard to the right to access to a court in the context of employment-related claims against international organizations; and 2) at examining the relevance of oral hearings in the determination of proportionality of organizational immunity. The analysis shows that, in principle, the denial of oral hearings by international administrative tribunals results in the duty of states to afford individuals access to a court. In the realm of international law, a conflict with the obligation to grant immunity ensues. As yet, domestic courts have remained reluctant to overrule immunity on human rights grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child recognises procedural rights of the child in addition to substantive rights, it is rather silent on the fundamental right to an effective remedy. The concept of access to justice for children has nevertheless emerged in the past decades and manifested itself firmly in the international human rights and sustainable development agendas. Access to justice is grounded in the right of the child to seek remedies in case of (alleged) rights violations. It implies legal empowerment of children and access to justice mechanisms and remedies that are child-sensitive. So far, access to justice, with a specific focus on children, lacks careful consideration, conceptualisation and contextualisation in academic research and writing. This contribution explores the meaning of access to justice for children, as a right and procedural concept, and paves the way for the development of a more specific research and implementation agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advent of Rights of Nature (RoN) marks a new paradigm shift in the philosophical approach to nature. As such, the concept has generated enthusiasm amongst environmentalists and legal scholars. This is not surprising since granting legal personhood to nature seems to present itself as a relative easy fix for the multitude of deficiencies of "modern" environmental law. However, when critically assessed, many of the underlying assumptions justifying a shift towards rights-based approaches to nature are open to challenge. In this paper, which takes a more critical stance on the topic of RoN, it is submitted that also the much-criticized modern environmental law is moving towards a recognition of the intrinsic value of nature, puts breaks on property rights, offers remediation actions for pure ecological damage and also increasingly grants environmental NGOs wide access to courts. Moreover, on a second level, it is argued that RoN are not a legal revolution and that many of the problems Rights of Nature tries to cure – such as a lack of enforcement – will simply re-emerge if not adequately assessed within this novel paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses, if and how the challenges of climate change could be brought in a case before the Court of Justice of the European Union. It concentrates on the admissibility of such a case and finds in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights the lever to overcome the obstacles which Article 263 TFEU places in front of members of the civil society. It discusses successively the questions of the Union act which might be tackled, the questions whether individual persons are directly and whether they are individually concerned by climate change decisions; and it ends with a short concluding remark. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child friendly justice and access to justice for children are explicit concerns for the European Union, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, the Council of Europe and the Child Rights International Network. This study examines court systems as child-responsive by eliciting the views of judicial decision makers on child protection cases (n = 1,479) in four legal systems (England, Finland, Norway and the USA (represented by California)), based on an online survey. In this paper, we asked judicial officials who have the authority to make care order decisions how they view the child-friendliness of the courts. We presented them with six statements representing standard features of child responsive courts. Findings show that there is considerable room for improving both structure and practice of the court proceedings, for example the use of child friendly language and child-sensitive time frames. There were variations across states, and some variation across type of decision maker. Implications for the development of education and training about the opportunities for children’s engagement are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, human rights law has been restricted increasingly by measures taken in the interest of public security. This raises the question whether there are limits in human rights protection that cannot be touched without questioning the very essence of individual rights protection itself. This article submits that the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in cases dealing with the compatibility of measures taken in the public interest with the echr has defined such limits predominantly in terms of procedure. Accordingly, individuals must not be deprived of the right to independent review in the light of their fundamental rights. Thus, the Court has been developing what may be called a right to invoke rights, a procedural component underlying all guarantees of the Convention. This principle has been established and upheld in three different constellations: general measures for public security, states of emergencies and the implementation of un sanctions regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In April 2017, the eu Commission published a "Notice on Access to Justice in Environmental Matters", laying down the views of Brussels on this hot topic. The Notice takes stock of the dynamic development of the cjeu's case law on the matter and draws cautious conclusions from this jurisprudence. This article is both an introductory and a short comment on the Notice. The main reasoning and conclusions drawn in the document are described, and then a couple of key issues are highlighted and discussed. All in all, evaluation of the Notice is positive, as it represents a rather big step forward compared with previous standpoints from Brussels. In this way, the Notice consolidates the impression that the eu is furnished with a Janus face concerning access to justice in environmental matters. It is very positive and affirming concerning legal challenges to administrative decision-making in national courts on the one hand, but very strict and of a rejecting nature when dealing with direct action to the cjeu on the other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides an overview of the work of the OSCE HCNM on issues of access to justice for national minorities, based on a review of relevant thematic recommendations, country-specific advice, official statements, as well as other activities, projects and engagements of the hcnm. The article analyses how the hcnm's specific mandate - as a political institution tasked to prevent inter-ethnic conflict, operating primarily through "quiet diplomacy" - has shaped its approach to human and minority rights, and to access to justice issues in particular. The overview shows that throughout the years, access to justice has become a recurrent, if at times tangential, theme for the institution. Overall, the article seeks to distil the general hcnm approach to access to justice issues as it was conveyed through a variety of thematic recommendations and guidelines, specific advice and other relevant engagements, undertaken in the course of the two-and-a-half decades of the institution's existence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its findings of 27 June 2016, the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee concluded that European Union "failed to comply with Article 9 paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Convention with regard to access to justice by members of the public, because neither the Aarhus legislation nor the jurisprudence of the ecj implements or complies with the obligations under these paragraphs". Against this backdrop, the present contribution retraces the jurisprudence of the ECJ on access to justice in environmental matters, evaluates its compatibility with the Aarhus Convention and compares it with the ECJ's practice in economic cases, in particular in the area of State aid. It is shown, i. a., that the ECJ denies ngos access to justice with regard to acts and omissions of eu institutions and how this is in breach with both eu environmental laws and Article 9(3) of the Aarhus Convention. It is also shown that the Court of Justice is much stricter with regard to the admissibility of actions which try to protect the environment than it is with regard to actions, where economic interests are at stake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights transnational consequences for access to justice of political posturing by national governments in respect of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). It charts the UK context preceding the adoption of Protocol 15, which inserts the concepts of subsidiarity and the margin of appreciation into the ECHR preamble. The article argues that whilst this was an attempt to curb the European Court of Human Rights' (ECtHR) powers, this proved limited in effect, as the court is too well established as a Supreme Court for Europe in the cosmopolitan legal order of the ECHR. The political-legal interplay which is the genesis of the ECHR system means that political manoeuvring from national governments is inevitable, but not fatal to its existence. However, the legitimacy of the ECtHR is secured only through political concessions, which act to expel surplus subjects from ECHR protection. The article concludes that the legitimacy of the ECtHR is therefore secured at the cost of individuals whose rights are worth less than the future of the court. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of access to justice in the context of plans and programmes affecting the environment, no single eu secondary law measure requires Member States to ensure effective judicial protection against such acts, and thus access to the preliminary reference procedure. At national level, this could lead to the absence of procedures to ensure effective judicial protection against plans and programmes. The Netherlands is used in this contribution as an example of the presence of such a lacuna. We argue that the lack of effective judicial protection against plans and programmes affecting the environment is in breach of both the Aarhus Convention and eu law. The duty to reconsider definitive acts, as established under the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, can serve as a short-term solution to offer effective judicial protection by the backdoor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses, from the local professional perspective, access to justice for person-specific interventions to prevent or counter (violent) extremism in Europe. Using a Dutch case study it focusses on legal protection for hand-tailored interferences that are part of a wider-ranging counter-terrorism policy. While the so-called person-specific interventions, carried out by professionals, target designated highrisk individuals and groups, it is primarily the municipal authority that coordinates these criminal -, administrative - or social based measures. Furthermore, although researchers and human rights advocates have repeatedly sounded the alarm over access to justice for those affected, little research has been done into how those responsible for implementation perceive the necessity of legal protection. Also, the potential side-effects such as executive arbitrariness are modestly reflected in the literature. Henceforth, by reviewing policy documents and conducting semi-structured interviews, this exploratory study concludes that as far as legal protection for hand-tailored interferences are concerned, local professionals have faith in the checks and balances of the criminal justice system. Yet from their perspective this was less self-evident in cases of administrative - or social measures. Therefore, one may wonder if legal protections for person-specific interventions that deal with (potential) extremists are sufficient in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China and the eu have both engaged in formulating climate laws in order to contribute to a global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The focus of both is on emission trading. This instrument is designed and implemented according to very different political and legal systems in China and the EU. The rule of law in the EU is understood to mean that access to the judicial system for those affected by the emission-trading scheme is crucial. This can be illustrated by the emergence of a large body of case law on the issue. China, by contrast, is still in the process of building a governance system based on the rule of law, and thereby faces the challenge of setting up a court system that will act independently of a powerful government. While in the eu industries may launch a legal action in order to acquire a more profitable position on the allocation of emission allowances, in China it is still an open question whether industries covered by the emission-trading scheme will be permitted to take their case to court. How does this difference affect the functioning of the instrument in the two jurisdictions? In the eu, so far, the environmental effectiveness of the emission-trading scheme does not appear to have been negatively impacted by court proceedings initiated by industry. While the powerful role of the government in environmental protection in China could be valuable for the achievement of environmental aims, weak judicial control of governmental action could mean either a strict implementation of emission reductions or a lenient approach that tolerates a flexible, less ambitious, implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines how justice and social order are administered and experienced in poor, politically fragile and conflict-affected environments. Taking notions of legal pluralism and public authority as our starting point, we explore how moral and social worlds are understood in places where 'the law' is not necessarily a discrete institutionalised process. Drawing upon current debates in the field, as well as findings from the six articles in this special issue, we explore how legal pluralism and public authority operate in context; how we might evaluate whether 'justice' is being done'; and the stark dissonances between local realities and the normative assumptions that currently guide international development interventions, particularly around rule-of-law reform and access to justice initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the African regional human rights system, relevant legal instruments confer substantive human and peoples' rights on African individuals and groups. There are also some justice mechanisms (judicial and quasi-judicial) for their enforcement at the regional level when local remedies fail or are non-existent. However, due to factors like political influence and the nature of some provisions of some of the instruments, access to the mechanisms and, therefore, to justice, eludes most individuals and groups. This article, inter alia, examines the extent of access guaranteed individuals and groups to the mechanisms available at the African regional level for enforcing their rights against violator African states. It discusses different impediments to this access and the consequent injustice. It suggests reforms, such as amendment of the access-impeding provisions of the relevant instruments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In judgment No. 238/2014 the Constitutional Court unhesitatingly gave prevalence to the right to jurisdictional protection over compliance with international law. The present paper argues that, at least in its reasoning, the Constitutional Court, instead of targeting exclusively the way in which international law regulates State immunity, should have assessed the possible role of alternative forms of protection of the rights of the victims of Nazi crimes. In particular, the Court should have considered whether negotiation can be an alternative form of protection of the rights of the victims and whether State action at the international level can substitute for individual access to justice. By taking into consideration the role of political organs of the State in the protection of the rights of nationals at the international level, it could have given its contribution to the current trend towards limiting the discretionary nature of diplomatic protection, particularly when grave breaches of human rights are at stake. It would also have contributed to delineate a possible way out of a situation of serious disrespect for international law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its judgment No. 238/2014 the Italian Constitutional Court, whilst appearing to show respect for the ICJ's 2012 judgment in Jurisdictional Immunities of the State, makes notable criticisms of that judgment and insists on its own role in the progressive development of international law in the field of State immunity. In particular, the main legal argument of the Constitutional Court, based on the fundamental and inviolable character of the right of access to justice in constitutional law, can also be used, although modified to some extent, in international law. The Court's argument can also resolve the possible conflict between the international norm of State immunity, on the one hand, and the international norms on fundamental human rights and access to justice, on the other. The present contribution seeks to demonstrate that: (a) the right of access to justice and the connected right to reparation for violations of fundamental human rights are established by two customary international norms; (b) there is a potential conflict between these norms and the norm of State immunity; (c) this conflict becomes real and concrete when the limits on access to justice and reparation laid down by immunity are unjustified in accordance with the rule of "equivalent protection"; and (d) the solution to that conflict derives from the normative superiority of the customary norms on access to justice and reparation (being peremptory in nature when functionally linked to the violation of fundamental human rights) over the norm of State immunity. The judgment of the Constitutional Court, utilizing legal reasoning that can also translate to the level of international law, demonstrates that osmosis may occur between the arguments used in constitutional and international law, and that today there is growing interaction between the domestic and international legal orders and their common values. The law of human rights, placed at the very center of the Constitutional Court's judgment, is the field in which this community of values emerges most clearly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One important means for the implementation of the third pillar of the Aarhus Convention into EU law is the provisions on access to justice in the EIA Directive (2011/92). The case-law of the CJEU on those provisions has developed rapidly in the last couple of years. This body of cases has given the concept "access to justice in environmental decision-making" a new meaning and improved the understanding of the requirement for judicial protection under EU environmental law. The aim of this article is to highlight this development and discuss a couple of key issues on access to justice. First, the relationship between "direct effect" and the individuals "rights" and the principles of effectiveness and judicial protection according to EU law is analysed. Thereafter, the meaning of "substantive and procedural legality" and the distinction between general and personal interests in relation to individual's standing are discussed. The next issue concerns the role of environmental non-governmental organisations. Finally, the concept "courts or tribunals" in environmental decision-making procedures is considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present contribution assesses the case law of the European Court of Justice interpreting the provisions of the Aarhus Convention relating to access to justice. Cases have dealt with the temporal scope of application of provisions on access to justice, projects implemented by specific acts of national legislation and their exclusion from the obligations under the Convention, interim relief and the effet utile of provisions on access to justice, the range of possible pleas for judicial review, the role of procedural errors, permissible costs of proceedings, access to justice for environmental associations under different provisions of the Convention and the annulment of a permit and its relationship with the right to property. As is also shown, this case law is at the same time relevant - though not binding - for Switzerland as a non-EU Member State, but party to the Convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are two questions with multiple answers regarding the relationship between Africa and the International Criminal Court. The first is whether the International Criminal Court is targeting Africa and the second is if politics plays any role in the decision to investigate and prosecute crimes within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. For the African Union, the International Criminal Court has become a western court targeting weak African countries and ignoring the atrocities committed by big powers including permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. The accusation by the African Union against the International Criminal Court leads to the argument that the International Criminal Court is currently politised. This is a charge consistently denied by the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between the United Nations Security Council, the International Criminal Court and the African Union. It articulates the role of the three institutions in the fight against impunity and the maintenance of international peace and security with reference to the African continent. The paper argues that complementarity should be applied to regional organisations and that the relationship between the African Union and the International Criminal Court should be guided by the application of positive complementarity and a nuanced approach to the interests of justice. This offers the International Criminal Court and the African Union an opportunity to develop mutual trust and result-oriented strategies to confront the impunity on the continent. The paper further argues that the power of the United Nations Security Council to refer situations to the International Criminal Court and defer cases before the Court is a primary source of the disagreement between the prosecutor and the African Union and recommends a division of labour between the International Criminal Court and the United Nations Security Council. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International organizations are regularly sued before the Dutch courts. This should come as no surprise, since the Netherlands hosts no fewer than 33 of such organizations. While major cases date back to the landmark judgment in the Spaans v. Iran- United States Claims Tribunal case, the recent case of Stichting Mothers of Srebrenica et al v. United Nations brought to the fore important unresolved issues which relate to the perceived conflicting obligations of states. On the one hand, States must accord immunity to international organizations; on the other, they must provide claimants with access to justice. Complicating circumstances in the Srebrenica case were the operation of the priority rule under Article 103 of the United Nations Charter, and the lack of alternative remedies against the United Nations. This paper highlights these unresolved issues, and considers how the courts interpret and apply the 'functional immunity' test. It then examines how to resolve the perceived tension between the obligations of states to accord immunity and to grant access to justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International organizations are generally recognised as requiring privileges and immunities, in particular immunity from the jurisdiction of domestic courts, in order to remain independent and unimpeded in the fulfilment of their functions and duties. However, this approach often neglects the effect of a grant of immunity to international organizations, in that potential claimants may be deprived of their ability to raise claims against international organizations before the 'natural forum' of domestic courts. Recently, both legal doctrine and practice have devoted particular attention to the potential accountability gap created by sweeping jurisdictional immunities of international organizations. This has even led to calls for filling the gap by denying immunity. This paper will outline the development of the increased awareness of accountability gaps and assess the reactions so far. Finally, it will turn to an evaluation of the suitability of national courts as institutions for securing the accountability of international organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that regional access to justice in West Africa provides an alternative to national access to justice through the institution of the ECOWAS Community Court of justice. This gives West Africans the option of pursuing justice in national judicial institutions or in the ECOWAS Court. Therefore, it reveals a situation where both sys-tems compete for effectiveness in meeting the justice demands of citizens while also encouraging greater complementarity in their institutional activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Judicial networking is an ever-expanding phenomenon in European governance. This paper focuses on the role judicial networks may have in shaping environmental legal policies and in the implementation of European environmental legislation. In particular, it looks at the debates happening between three main networks of judges with regard to the issue of the legal standing of associations, which is a heated topic that has also a political relevance. The author suggests that the building of a European judicial community within a broader European legal field is currently in progress, where national judges have an important role to play. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]