There are several actions in Belgium concerning access to justice within the framework of implementation of the Convention’s provisions.
For actions concerning the “pillars' of the Convention
A public service has not responded to a citizen’s request for environmental information. Authorisation (for instance, an environmental permit) was granted without prior public participation. These two situations may breach both the right to have access to information and public participation in the decision-making process, defined by the Convention.
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- Appeals relating to access to information
- Appeals relating to public participation in decision-making
The other types of appeals relating to the environment
Other possibilities of going to court are also available to the public when the public wants to oppose breaches of environmental law in general, i.e. with no specific relation to the Convention’s two 'information' and 'participation' pillars. For instance, this may concern a request made to the Council of State to repeal or suspend an administrative decision relating to the environment. Another example would be taking court action in the traditional sense of the term, for instance in the case of a complaint about acts of pollution.
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