ARMENIA VIOLATES INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS FOR AARHUS CONVENTION
20 09/09/22 | 13:38
Ecology
Two out of three main principles of the Aarhus Convention are not met
in Armenia, i.e. public participation in decision-making and access
to justice in environmental matters.
This charge is included in the letter addressed by 3 NGOs,
"Transparency International – Anticorruption Center", "EcoDar" and
the Helsinki Civil Assembly Office in Vanadzor, to the Secretariat
of the Aarhus Convention on September 15, 2009.
As a reminder: these organizations twice applied to the Administrative
Court of RA: first time with a lawsuit to recognize illegal the
following documents: two positive expert opinions of the State
Environmental Expert Commission of the Ministry of Nature Protection
of RA, the government decision on the exploitation of Teghout deposit,
as well as licenses issued to Armenian Copper Program (AÑÐ) permitting
the exploitation of Teghout deposit, second time with an appeal for
the dismissal to deal with this lawsuit. The Administrative Court
refused the examination of both lawsuits.
The letter addressed to the Secretariat points out the violations of
the main provisions of the Aarhus Convention, which Armenia ratified
in May 2001. The Aarhus Convention is an effective instrument for
implementing democratic principles in the environmental sphere.
Thus, the letter points out that "the decisions and actions of the
state bodies in regard to the exploitation of Teghout deposit violate
Paragraph 2, Article 6 (about ensuring public participation in the
initial stages), Paragraph 4, Article 6 (ensuring effective public
participation), Paragraph 8, Article 6 (the decisions shall reflect
the results of public participation), and Paragraph 9, Article 6
(public shall immediately informed about the decisions adopted)". The
dismissal of the lawsuits by the Administration is a direct violation
of the third section of the Aarhus Convention – access to justice.