Conference session 2: Overview of access to justice in four national jurisdictions

The document outlines specific legal and systemic barriers to environmental justice in four European nations, highlighting issues such as restrictive standing for NGOs, lack of judicial specialization, and ineffective injunctive relief.

• In France, environmental protection is hindered by a lack of ground-level resources to prevent damages, non-deterrent punishments for public authorities (specifically préfets), and a shortage of specialized judges and prosecutors. Additionally, the system for injunctive relief is described as ineffective, and referring questions to the CJEU is challenging.
• Spain has seen improvements in access to justice due to the Aarhus Convention, including the 2017 recognition of NGO standing as a concerned party and the 2019 granting of injunctive relief without a bond. Legal aid under Article 23.2 of the Aarhus Convention has also allowed NGOs to be exonerated from judicial costs, though court proceedings remain too slow.

APA

ClientEarth (2020). Conference session 2: Overview of access to justice in four national jurisdictions. https://www.clientearth.org/media/runnceu1/conference-session-2-summary.pdf

Chicago

ClientEarth. Conference session 2: Overview of access to justice in four national jurisdictions. 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/media/runnceu1/conference-session-2-summary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=ClientEarth |title=Conference session 2: Overview of access to justice in four national jurisdictions |date=November 2020 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/runnceu1/conference-session-2-summary.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{clientearth2020conference, author = {{ClientEarth}}, title = {{Conference session 2: Overview of access to justice in four national jurisdictions}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2020}, month = nov, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/runnceu1/conference-session-2-summary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }