Autore
Colacino, NicolaTitolo
EXPLORING THE LEGAL NATURE OF THE STATES' OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC IN THE CASE OF AN IMMINENT THREAT TO THE ENVIRONMENT: MORE THAN THE B-SIDE OF THE INDIVIDUAL RIGHT TO ACCESS?Periodico
Ordine internazionale e diritti umaniAnno:
2014 - Fascicolo:
3 - Pagina iniziale:
454 - Pagina finale:
467The legal relationship between environmental protection and human rights has come
along with the development of international environmental law since the Stockholm
Conference of 1972, even though, at first, the international debate has focused basically on
the inclusion of the environmental dimension within the scope of some civil and social
fundamental rights. After that, such a relationship has been broadened and strengthened by
the recognition of the procedural rights to access to information, public participation in
decision-making and access to justice in the field of the environment (declared in Principle
10 of 1992 Rio Declaration and then regulated by the Aarhus Convention in 1998), which
can be properly considered the very first “environmental rights”. In particular, the right to
environmental information is recognized by the Aarhus Convention, both as an individual
right to get information by public authorities in response to a specific request (Article 4)
and as a State obligation to disseminate it without delay in case of any imminent threat to
health or environment to the public who might be affected (Article 5, par. 1(c)). Despite
the apparent common origin, it must be noted that the two normative provisions have a
different legal nature. Actually, while the right to access – and the corresponding State
obligation – gives implementation to one of the key principles of environmental
governance, the content of the Article 5.1(c) of the Aarhus Convention can be rather
regarded as an upgrade of the obligation of “early notification” for nuclear accidents,
established by the 1986 Vienna Convention, given that they share the same goal: to prevent
the harmful effects of an environmental disaster and lessen State responsibility in case of
transboundary damages. The paper aims to investigate the legal nature, content and scope
of both the mentioned obligations through the examination of the relevant international
practice, in order to highlight their different features and to assess their actual
correspondence to customary international law.
SICI: 2284-3531(2014)3<454:ETLNOT>2.0.ZU;2-X
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