Access to Justice in the Aarhus Convention – Genesis, Legislative History and Overview of the Main Interpretation Dilemmas

Abstract

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.