OSCE Office in Yerevan promotes Aarhus Convention principles and values

YEREVAN, 5 December 2005 - A two-day training course for advocates and judges on public access to justice on environmental matters was organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Public Environmental Information Centre (Aarhus Centre) in partnership with the Environmental Public Advocacy Centre.

The aim of the training was to increase the participants' ability to implement provisions of the Aarhus Convention and to raise their awareness of the importance of public participation in decision-making processes in the environmental field.

"The Aarhus Convention is an important step towards democracy," said Ambassador Vladimir Pryakhin, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan. "It calls not only for public access to environmental information, but also for a real judicial mechanism for protecting people's right to live in a healthy environment."

Over 40 participants, including advocates and judges, and representatives of the Armenian Government, General Prosecutor's Office, non-governmental and international organizations, were introduced to the main provisions of the Aarhus Convention, with particular focus on its third pillar--access to justice on environmental matters.

The participants were provided with a handbook, published with the support of the OSCE Office, on the Aarhus Convention, the main environmental laws and codes of conduct, which provides guidance to governmental and public stakeholders for further development and implementation of environmental conventions and laws in compliance with international standards.