Top German Court Relies Upon the Aarhus Convention to Confer Standing to an NGO

Germany's Federal Administrative Court overturned a lower court's decision, ruling that the German Environmental Legal Remedies Act (UmwRG) cannot be used to restrict the legal standing of environmental NGOs when such restrictions conflict with EU law and the Aarhus Convention. The court found that the NGO 'BUND Naturschutz' had standing to challenge a Bavarian ordinance reducing protected natural areas, citing the primacy of EU law and the Protocol on the Implementation of the Alpine Convention. This decision establishes that national laws restricting access to justice for environmental organizations must be disregarded if they prevent the protection of rights guaranteed by EU and international environmental law.

• The Federal Administrative Court ruled that legal protection cannot be limited only to plans and programs requiring a strategic environmental assessment if the national law conflicts with the Aarhus Convention, the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and EU environmental law.
• In the case of the NGO 'BUND Naturschutz' challenging a Bavarian ordinance that reduced the size of protected natural areas, the court determined that the principle of primacy of EU law prevails over Section 1 (1) Nr. 4 of the German Environmental Legal Remedies Act (UmwRG).
• The court concluded that challenging individual permits issued under an ordinance is insufficient to provide effective legal protection, referencing a 2017 Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee (ACCC) report.
• This ruling allows recognized environmental associations to challenge plans and programs not subject to strategic environmental impact assessments, with potential future relevance for plans concerning climate protection and air quality.

APA

Klein, F. M. (2023). Top German Court Relies Upon the Aarhus Convention to Confer Standing to an NGO. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/top-german-court-relies-upon-the-aarhus-convention-to-confer-standing-to-an-ngo/

Chicago

Klein, Francesca Mascha. Top German Court Relies Upon the Aarhus Convention to Confer Standing to an NGO. ClientEarth, 2023. https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/top-german-court-relies-upon-the-aarhus-convention-to-confer-standing-to-an-ngo/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Klein |first1=Francesca Mascha |title=Top German Court Relies Upon the Aarhus Convention to Confer Standing to an NGO |publisher=ClientEarth |date=10 May 2023 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/top-german-court-relies-upon-the-aarhus-convention-to-confer-standing-to-an-ngo/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{klein2023top, author = {Klein, Francesca Mascha}, title = {{Top German Court Relies Upon the Aarhus Convention to Confer Standing to an NGO}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/latest/news/top-german-court-relies-upon-the-aarhus-convention-to-confer-standing-to-an-ngo/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }