The role of NGOs in environmental litigation against public authorities: Some observations on judicial review and access to court in the Netherlands

Journal of Environmental Law

Volumn 22, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 373-390

  Jans, Jan H ^a   Marseille, Albert T ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF GRONINGEN   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Access to justice; Environmental litigation; Judicial review; Netherlands; NGOs

Indexed keywords

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE; ENVIRONMENTAL LEGISLATION; INTERNATIONAL LAW; NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION; PUBLIC ACCESS;

NETHERLANDS;

EID: 78049436280     PISSN: 09528873     EISSN: 1464374X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1093/jel/eqq021     Document Type: Article

References (31)

1. UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1999) 38 ILM 515
2. On EU implementation, see in particular, Directive 2003/35/EC providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment [2003] OJ L156/17
3. N de Sadeleer, G Roller and M Dross, Access to Justice in Environmental Matters and the Role of NGOs. Empirical Findings and Legal Appraisal (Europa Law Publishing, Groningen 2005).
4. Cf HD Tolsma, KJ de Graaf and JH Jans, 'The Rise and Fall of Access to Justice in the Netherlands' (2009) 21 JEL 309-21
5. The recent (entry into force 31 March 2010) Crisis and Recovery Act (Crisis-en herstelwet) introduced, at least for a part of environmental law, the so-called relativity principle, according to which an administrative court can only annul a decision if the administrative authority has infringed a rule that aimed to protect the claimant's interest
6. Cf also the Dutch report of J Verschuuren, in de Sadeleer and others (n 2) 97-117
7. The judgments are available via either http://www.raadvanstate.nl or http://www.rechtspraak.nl accessed 14 October 2010.
8. With the entry into force (expected 1 October 2010) of the General Provisions Environmental Law Act (Wet algemene bepalingen omgevingsrecht), this will change. After that date environmental litigation will follow the 'standard' of challenging decisions at the level of the District Court, with a possible appeal to the Council of State.
9. This section builds on Tolsma and others (n 3)
10. HR 17 June 1986, NJ 1987, 743, with note by Heemskerk (Hoge Raad; Supreme Court of the Netherlands)
11. Emphasis added
12. Tolsma and others (n 3)
13. ABRvS,1 October 2008, AB 2008, 348, with note by Michiels (Raad van State, Dutch Council of State)
14. For instance in Ireland, Case C-427/07 Commission v Ireland [2009] ECR I-6277; but see also for the UK the so-called Sullivan-report: Ensuring Access to Environmental Justice in England and Wales
15. Report of the Working Group on Access to Environmental Justice (May 2008) accessed 10 October 2010.
16. M Schreuder-Vlasblom, Rechtsbescherming en bestuurlijke voorprocedure (Kluwer, Deventer 2008) at 462-4
17. accessed 10 October 2010.
18. Their names are, as far as necessary, translated by the authors
19. A town in the western part of the Netherlands (emphasis added)
20. A harbour near Rotterdam (emphasis added)
21. A neighbourhood in The Hague (emphasis added)
22. A street in Valkenswaard, a town in the southern part of the Netherlands (emphasis added)
23. Cf Tolsma and others (n 3)
24. Art 9 of the Convention. Cf also Directive 2003/35 (n 1), arts 3 and 4.
25. ABRvS 13 November 2002, M&R 2003/4, no 39 (Raad van State; Dutch Council of State)
26. See in particular JH Jans, Doorgeschoten? Enkele opmerkingen over de gevolgen van de Europeanisering van het bestuursrecht voor de grondslagen van de bestuursrechtspraak, Inaugural Lecture University of Groningen (Europa Law Publishing, Groningen 2005)
27. KA van derVeer and AT Marseille,'Besluitvorming na een rechterlijke vernietiging: de achilleshiel van het bestuursrecht' (2006) NJB 2168-75
28. Tolsma and others (n 3)
29. See n 5, above
30. See also de Sadeleer and others (n 2) at 171 in particular
31. M Galanter, 'Why the "Haves" Come Out Ahead: Speculations on the Limits of Legal Change' (1974) 9 Law Soc Rev 95-160