Annual Lecture 2024

The rights guaranteed under the Aarhus Convention enable members of the public, including environmental non-governmental organisations, to act to defend the environment in the public interest.

This lecture delves into the role and influence of the Convention and its innovative compliance mechanism. It identifies significant new developments within the Aarhus framework concerning the protection of environmental defenders and broader threats to democracy and the rule of law. It offers insights into the complex process of integrating international environmental law obligations into domestic legal frameworks and reflects on the many challenges surrounding successful implementation.

It concludes with a brief look to the future and a renewed call for effective accountability mechanisms to uphold the rule of law and to protect participatory rights in environmental matters.

Áine Ryall - Professor at the School of Law, University College Cork

Áine Ryall is a Professor at the School of Law, University College Cork where she is Co-Director of the Centre for Law & the Environment. She is Chair of the Compliance Committee to the Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention). She is a member of the Avosetta Group of Experts on EU Environmental Law, a Vice-President of the Irish Centre for European Law (ICEL) and a member of the Academic Panel at Francis Taylor Building, Inner Temple, London. She serves on the Audit and Risk Committee of the Environmental Protection Agency (Ireland)

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