OSCE supports workshop on judicial application of environmental legislation in Kazakhstan

AKIPRESS.COM - The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan supported a workshop on the application of environmental legislation and compliance with the provisions of the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) on November 25 in Semey, Eastern Kazakhstan, the OSCE reported.
The event brought together some 44 representatives from government, judiciary, academia and nongovernmental sectors who discussed the application of Kazakhstan's environmental legislation in civil cases and problematic issues linked to compliance with the Aarhus Convention. The participants reviewed administrative and economic offences in the area of environmental governance, including the judiciary application of the environmental legislation in Kazakhstan.
The OSCE Programme Office in Nur-Sultan organized the workshop in partnership with Kazakhstan's Supreme Court and the Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources.
The Aarhus Convention, launched in 1998, enhances the role of citizens and civil society organizations in environmental matters and is based on the principle of a participative democracy. It grants the public rights and imposes on Parties and public authorities' obligations to ensure the access to information, public participation in environmental decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters
The event is part of the Programme Office's multi-year activities to promote good environmental governance and to assist the host country in meeting its commitments under the Aarhus Convention.