Obstacles to the Use of Citizen Data in Environmental Litigation before East African Courts

Abstract

Increasingly, citizen data are used as evidence before courts in the context of environmental litigation. This trend is especially strong in Europe and in the United States, but is still poorly researched in Africa. This paper may serve as a starting point to identify some general features in East African legal frameworks and judicial practice that could complicate the use of citizen data as evidence in environmental litigation before courts in this region. From the onset, it is important to emphasize the colonial origins of environmental legislation in East Africa, which was not only designed to make the exploitation of natural resources easier for the occupiers (instead of conserving the natural resource base), but was also specifically geared towards excluding the local population from decision-making. As a first obstacle, environmental statutes still lack clear technical standards concerning air, soil, and water quality. This forces litigants to rely on vague constitutional rights, and leads to a focus on procedural rather than substantive questions in court proceedings. Secondly, there is a lack of standards concerning the collection of environmental information. Thirdly, NGOs often operate in hostile environments. If citizen data are to be used for litigation, it is important to ensure a cooperative relationship with the authorities and to protect the organizers of citizen science projects from retaliation. Fourthly, many environmental procedures in Africa are of a criminal nature, which may influence the requirements concerning the use of citizen data.