Access to Justice Under Irish Environmental Impact Assessment Law (note on Case C-427 07 Commission v Ireland European Court of Justice (Second Chamber))

Ireland was recently found not to have fully implemented Directive 85/337 on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (the EIA Directive) and Directive 2003/35 (the Århus Convention Directive). As the name implies, this second directive arises from the Århus Convention itself, which was negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and aims to improve public participation and access to justice in environmental matters. The European Union and all of its member states are signatories and it entered into force on 30 October 2001. The Århus Convention Directive was to be brought into force in member states by 25 June 2005.