The Aarhus Convention and the Democratic Involvement in Enviromental Issues: The Italian Case

Abstract

The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters was adopted on 25 June 1998 in Aarhus and ratified in Italy by the law 168/2001. Article 6 and Article 7 preview that “Each Party shall ensure that in the decision due account is taken of the outcome of the public participation”. It promotes public participation in environmental decisions, realized by two main strategies. On the one hand the enforcement of the right to environmental information and on the other hand the public involvement in the decision-making related to the carrying on of specific infrastructures such as industrial assets, landfills, incinerators, railway lines, roads and so on. The Aarhus Convention has been implemented by the European Law System with the Directive 2003/4/EC and the Decision 2005/370/EC. The European Court of Human Rights has implemented it as a specific aspect of the right to express a proper and informed opinion according to Article 10 ECHR and of the right to the respect of family and private life. Although Italy has implemented the Convention, it never seems to have fully accomplished its effects. Indeed, the local communities involved in industrial or infrastructural realizations have not been consulted or their opinion has not been taken into account. The aim of this paper is to evaluate what is the impact of those policies and the related attitude of the Italian system on the protection of human rights of the people involved.