Access to justice in environmental matters at EU level
Access to justice in environmental matters reflects the multi-level governance of the EU legal order, being determined by the effects of the Aarhus Convention in the EU legal order, its incorporation in EU secondary legislation, and its interpretation by the Court of Justice of the EU.
This lecture examines the scope of access to the CJEU in environmental matters for challenging the legality of acts adopted by EU institutions and bodies. Access to justice in environmental matters in line with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention is meant to be ensured through a combination of legal remedies which together provide a complete system of remedies. The lecture focuses on the restrictive approach to standing in actions for annulment, which often prevents applicants from challenging EU acts directly before the CJEU, and discusses the potential of the administrative and judicial review mechanisms under the Aarhus Regulation to fill in the gaps.
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Speaker: Ioanna Hadjiyianni
She is an Assistant Professor in Public Law at the University of Cyprus. She is an editor for the Review Articles Section at the Journal of Environmental Law. In 2022, she was awarded the Young Researcher Award for Social Sciences and Humanities from the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation. Her research focuses on the extraterritorial reach of EU environmental and climate law, access to justice in environmental matters, the use of EU funding to achieve objectives of the European Green Deal, ship recycling, and the interaction between EU and international law. Her monograph The EU as a Global Regulator for Environmental Protection: A Legitimacy Perspective (Hart Publishing 2019) was shortlisted for the 2020 SLS Peter Birks Book Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship.
Her publications include ‘Judicial Protection and the Environment in the EU Legal Order: Missing Pieces for a Complete Puzzle of Legal Remedies’ (Common Market Law Review). Her forthcoming work includes The EU’s Role in Regulating Shipbreaking: Between Sustainability and Fragmentation (with Dr Kleoniki Pouikli, forthcoming
with Edward Elgar).
Environmental Law Lecture Series
This lecture is part of the Environmental Law Lecture Series: Strengthening EU Environmental Law, Legal Perspectives on Greening Europe series. This series provides a set of important insights from environmental law scholars on how EU environmental law helps to achieve the aim of a high level of environmental protection in the European Union and across the world.
With the European Green Deal from 11 December 2019 the European Commission tabled an ambitious legislative program, based on fundamental aims such as zero pollution, do no harm, and climate neutrality. Many legal developments took place and are still on-going, both at the European and national regulatory levels as in the courtroom, including the national courts. While efforts to protect the environment are direly needed, including effective implementation and enforcement, the regulatory acquis, and the flow of case law, has become utterly complex which poses challenges for acquiring a good understanding and application.
This freely accessible online (and hybrid) lecture series provides students and scholars with core insights in the state of affairs and further improvement of EU environmental law. The lecture series will run in 2023 and 2024. All lectures will be recorded and will be made accessible through our YouTube channel.
This GreenDeal-Net lecture series is hosted by MCEL, METRO and organised in cooperation with GLaw-Net and GreenDeal-NET. Maastricht University students will be eligible for certificates of attendance (see more information under the registration link).