14.01.2024

Important CJEU judgment in the matter of access to justice in environmental matters

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued on January 11, 2024, a judgment confirming the compatibility of the conditions for the admissibility of the action in the administrative contentious dispute under Romanian positive law with the EU law. Among other things, the Luxembourg Court ruled that the provisions of art. 9 para. (3) of the Aarhus Convention do not oppose a national regulation under which a legal entity, other than a non-governmental environmental protection organization, is not recognized as having active procedural standing to challenge an administrative act that is not addressed to it when he invokes the violation of a legitimate private interest, or an interest linked to a legal situation directly related to his activity.

In accordance with a constant jurisprudence, the Court recalled that the states party to the Aarhus Convention are not obliged to establish in their national law a system of popular action (actio popularis), through which anyone can contest any decision, act or omission concerning environmental matters. The CJEU decision, delivered in case C-252/22, ensures the necessary balance between the interest of environmental protection and the interest of the proper functioning of justice. Legal means for the protection of the environment are only effective if they are accompanied by reasonable conditions of exercise, designed to restrict the possibility of their misuse.

The defence of the Suceava County Council and the President of the Suceava County Council before the national courts and before the CJEU was provided by the STOICA & ASOCIAȚII lawyers team consisting of  Cătălina Dicu (Senior Partner) and Yolanda Beșleagă (Senior Associate), under the coordination of Prof. univ. emeritus Valeriu Stoica, PhD (Founding Partner).

The hearing in case C-252/22 took place on May 4, 2023, at the seat of the Court in Luxembourg. The Suceava County Council and the President of the Suceava County Council were represented before the Court during the meeting of May 4, 2023 by Valeriu Stoica and Yolanda Beșleagă.

The decision can be consulted HERE.