391 / 536
377
CYIL 7 ȍ2016Ȏ
DO THE EUROPEANS HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET INFORMATION ABOUT…
of the environmental impact assessment in a timely manner and has not conducted
proper public consultations.
The particularity of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation
in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters lies in the
fact that the Convention entrusts rights not only to the states but also to their
citizens. The three main rights provided may be summarized as: the right to know,
to participate, and to go to court. The first pillar – the right of the public to access
the environmental information in the Aarhus Convention – includes both “passive
access” (that is, the right to seek information from public authorities), and “active
access” (the duty of the government to collect, disclose and disseminate information
about the environment regardless of the requests of the public). The notion of ‘public’
has to be explained broadly, as including not only the citizens and NGOs of the state
itself but also the citizens and organisations of other states. After analysis of the
actions of Belarusian authorities, it can be stated that problems have risen regarding
the translation of the documents which should be carried out properly by Belarus
according to the ‘polluter pays’ principle. Furthermore, the numerous requests by
Lithuania to provide information about the possible impact on the environment and
the Neris river in particular and about the safety of the constructed nuclear power
plant are left unanswered, therefore possibly infringing the right to information of
Lithuania and its citizens.