We began a training of Country Court judges in February

At VIA IURIS, we have long supported the broadest possible public access to justice in environmental protection and, to this end, carry out various activities at a national level (providing legal assistance to the active public, commenting and participating in law-making, educational and publishing activities).

In this area, it is also necessary to follow European and international law, which sets our national standards. In this regard, we are a part of a worldwide network of non-governmental legal organisations specialising on justice and environment (J&E).

It is within the J&E network that we participate in the project “Education and Awareness of Legal Professions in the Approach to Justice in Environmental Matters”, which also includes training seminars that we conduct for District Court judges in 2019.

The first of the seminars was held on 28 February  2018 for judges and senior court officials of the Administrative College of the Regional Court in Žilina.

In the seminars, we focus primarily on the new legislation that has been enacted by the Code of Administrative Procedure concerning public access to courts in environmental protection, as well as the related, but currently modest, decision-making activity of courts.

In addition to a lawyer working with VIA IURIS, Imrich Vozár, the judge of the Supreme Administrative Court, Mgr. Bc. Aleš Roztočil, LL.M., who presented selected problems on this topic in the context of the Czech Republic.

Our motivation to organise training seminars on access to justice in environmental protection is based on our awareness that while the EU environmental policy and law are one of the most progressive and comprehensive in the world, their application in practice fails. This is pointed out not only by several studies of the European Commission but also by the sad reality of degrading biodiversity within the member states.

At VIA IURIS, we are convinced that active citizens are playing a pivotal role in supporting the work of the public authorities, that are responsible for environmental protection. However, effective campaigning for environmental protection can only be truly effective if it also includes citizens‘ access to the courts.

In this respect, it is essential that the Slovak courts are aware of and correctly apply national and international legislation guaranteeing public access to the Court in environmental protection.

The first of the seminars has confirmed that the need for training in this field is necessary, as the legislation contained in the Code of Administrative Procedure is still very recent and contains many questions that need to be discussed in professional circles.

The seminars are organised in the framework of the project “Education and Awareness Raising of Legal Professions in the Approach to Justice in Environmental Matters – LIFE16 GIE / CZ / 000791 LIFE-A2J-EARL” and in the project “Visegrad 4 Aarhus Center strengthening access to environmental justice”.