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Miljöorganisationer i globaliseringens korsdrag - Spänningsfältet mellan internationell rätt och svensk rätt: En studie av Århuskonventionens artikel 9.3:s påverkan i svensk rätt

Henrikson, Louise LU (2024) JURM02 20242
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract (Swedish)
Miljöproblemen vet inga gränser och påverkar hela mänskligheten kollektivt. Historiskt har dock tillgången till rättslig prövning i svensk rätt kretsat kring individuella intressen. Århuskonventionen, som både Sverige och EU sedan år 2005 är parter till, introducerar en bindande mekanism där miljöorganisationer ges rätt att företräda det kollektiva intresset genom att väcka talan mot myndighetsåtgärder som påstås strida mot nationell miljölagstiftning.

Århuskonventionens artikel 9.3 väcker frågor om hur det allmänna intresset, som miljöorganisationer i egenskap av privat aktör får företräda, tar plats i en redan etablerad rättsordning. Vid tidpunkten för ratificeringen av konventionen menade regeringen att Sverige redan uppfyllde... (More)
Miljöproblemen vet inga gränser och påverkar hela mänskligheten kollektivt. Historiskt har dock tillgången till rättslig prövning i svensk rätt kretsat kring individuella intressen. Århuskonventionen, som både Sverige och EU sedan år 2005 är parter till, introducerar en bindande mekanism där miljöorganisationer ges rätt att företräda det kollektiva intresset genom att väcka talan mot myndighetsåtgärder som påstås strida mot nationell miljölagstiftning.

Århuskonventionens artikel 9.3 väcker frågor om hur det allmänna intresset, som miljöorganisationer i egenskap av privat aktör får företräda, tar plats i en redan etablerad rättsordning. Vid tidpunkten för ratificeringen av konventionen menade regeringen att Sverige redan uppfyllde konventionens krav beträffande artikel 9.3. Rättsutvecklingen sedan dess indikerar dock att detta inte varit fallet, då tolkningen och tillämpningen av artikel 9.3 har utvecklats betydligt genom rättstillämpningen.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att, genom en kartläggning av miljöorganisationers rätt till rättslig prövning i artikel 9.3, undersöka vad införlivandet av artikel 9.3 i Århuskonventionen inneburit för svensk rätt med särskilt fokus på domstolsprocessens syften och miljöorganisationers roll i relation till myndigheter. Frågeställningarna berör vilka krav artikel 9.3 i konventionen och EU-rätten ställer, hur dessa krav tillgodoses i svensk rätt och vilka motsättningar som uppstår samt vad dessa motsättningar säger om pågående förändring.

Kartläggningen visar att Århuskonventionens artikel 9.3 ger miljöorganisationer omfattande rätt till rättslig prövning mot myndighetsåtgärder som strider mot nationell miljölagstiftning. Vidare har det inom EU-rätten utvecklats en särskild miljörättslig ram där artikel 9.3 i konventionen förenas med artikel 47 i Europeiska unionens stadga om de grundläggande rättigheterna för att få genomslag. Av kartläggningen i svensk rätt, som är uppsatsen huvudsakliga del, framgår att svensk rätt i stor utsträckning har anpasssat både nationella klagorättsbestämmelser och allmänna förvaltningsprinciper för att tillgodose artikel 9.3, både inom och utanför miljöbalken samt inom både unionsrätten och nationell rätt. Mycket tyder på att artikel 9.3 har en självständig och etablerad plats i svensk rätt genom en allmän tolkningsprincip om att svensk rätt ska förstås i ljuset av för Sverige bindande internationella instrument. Det finns dock områden där artikel 9.3 haft begränsad effekt i svensk rätt. Dynamiken mellan effekten och den begränsade effekten av artikel 9.3 ger upphov till en analys i ett bredare perspektiv. I den bredare analysen konstateras att det finns motsättningar mellan domstolsprocessens traditionella fokus på individuella rättigheter och Århuskonventionens samt EU-rättens betoning på kollektiva miljöintressen. Dessutom uppstår konflikter mellan miljöorganisationers roll som granskande aktörer och myndigheternas traditionella självständighet. Dessa motsättningar förklaras av skillnader i rättstraditioner och utmaningar med att integrera internationella normer i ett etablerat rättssystem. Motsättningarnas antal och sammanhang indikerar en dynamisk och gradvis anpassning av svensk rätt, snarare än en total transformation. Artikel 9.3 har således stärkt miljöorganisationernas rättsliga ställning och på ett bredare plan bidragit till en omfattande anpassning av den svenska rättsapparaten, vilket av allt att tyda kommer att fortsätta. (Less)
Abstract
Environmental challenges know no borders and collectively impact all of humanity. Historically, access to judicial review in Swedish law has centered around individual interests. The Aarhus Convention, to which both Sweden and the EU have been parties since 2005, introduces a binding mechanism granting environmental organizations the right to represent collective interests by initiating lawsuits against governmental measures alleged to contravene national environmental legislation.

Article 9.3 of the Aarhus Convention raises questions regarding how the public interest, represented by environmental organizations, is accommodated within an already established legal system. At the time of ratifying the Convention, the Swedish government... (More)
Environmental challenges know no borders and collectively impact all of humanity. Historically, access to judicial review in Swedish law has centered around individual interests. The Aarhus Convention, to which both Sweden and the EU have been parties since 2005, introduces a binding mechanism granting environmental organizations the right to represent collective interests by initiating lawsuits against governmental measures alleged to contravene national environmental legislation.

Article 9.3 of the Aarhus Convention raises questions regarding how the public interest, represented by environmental organizations, is accommodated within an already established legal system. At the time of ratifying the Convention, the Swedish government asserted that Sweden already met the Convention's requirements concerning Article 9.3. However, subsequent legal developments indicate that this has not been the case, as the interpretation and application of Article 9.3 have significantly evolved through application of the law.

The purpose of this thesis is to, through a mapping of environmental organizations' access to justice under Article 9.3, examine what the incorporation of Article 9.3 in the Aarhus Convention has entailed for Swedish law, with a particular focus on the objectives of the judicial process and the role of environmental organizations in relation to authorities. The research questions ad-dress the requirements imposed by Article 9.3 and EU law, how these requirements are fulfilled in Swedish law, what conflicts arise and what these conflicts indicate about ongoing changes.

The investigation demonstrates that Article 9.3 of the Aarhus Convention grants environmental organizations extensive rights to judicial review against governmental measures that contravene national environmental legislation. Furthermore, within EU law, a specific environmental legal framework has been developed wherein Article 9.3 of the Convention is combined with Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to achieve effect. The mapping of Swedish law, which constitutes the main part of the thesis, reveals that Swedish law has extensive-ly adapted both national complaint rights provisions and general administrative principles to accommodate Article 9.3, both regarding issues within and outside the Environmental Code, as well as within both EU law and national law. There is significant evidence that Article 9.3 has an autonomous and established position in Swedish law through a general interpretative principle that Swedish law should be interpreted considering internationally binding instruments for Sweden. However, there are areas where Article 9.3 has had limited effect in Swedish law. The dynamics between the impact and the limited impact of Article 9.3 results in a broader analysis. It is concluded that there are conflicts between the judicial process's traditional focus on individual rights and the Aarhus Convention's and EU law's emphasis on collective environmental interests. Additionally, conflicts arise between environmental organizations' roles as scrutinizing actors and authorities' traditional independence. These conflicts are explained by differences in legal traditions and challenges in integrating international norms into an established legal system. The number and context of these conflicts indicate a dynamic and gradual adaptation of Swedish law, rather than a total transformation. Thus, Article 9.3 has strengthened the legal position of environmental organizations and, on a broader scale, contributed to a comprehensive adaptation of the Swedish legal system, a process that based on current legal developments, is expected to continue. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Henrikson, Louise LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Environmental Organizations in the Crosswinds of Globalization - The Tension between International Law and Swedish Law: A Study of the Impact of Article 9.3 of the Aarhus Convention on Swedish Law
course
JURM02 20242
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Miljörätt, Miljöprocessrätt, förvaltningsprocessrätt, förvaltningsrätt, EU-rätt, Århuskonventionen, Environmental Law, Administrative Procedure, EU law, The Aarhus Convention, Law and Political Science
language
Swedish
id
9180338
date added to LUP
2025-01-31 09:51:00
date last changed
2025-01-31 09:51:00
@misc{9180338,
  abstract     = {{Environmental challenges know no borders and collectively impact all of humanity. Historically, access to judicial review in Swedish law has centered around individual interests. The Aarhus Convention, to which both Sweden and the EU have been parties since 2005, introduces a binding mechanism granting environmental organizations the right to represent collective interests by initiating lawsuits against governmental measures alleged to contravene national environmental legislation.

Article 9.3 of the Aarhus Convention raises questions regarding how the public interest, represented by environmental organizations, is accommodated within an already established legal system. At the time of ratifying the Convention, the Swedish government asserted that Sweden already met the Convention's requirements concerning Article 9.3. However, subsequent legal developments indicate that this has not been the case, as the interpretation and application of Article 9.3 have significantly evolved through application of the law.

The purpose of this thesis is to, through a mapping of environmental organizations' access to justice under Article 9.3, examine what the incorporation of Article 9.3 in the Aarhus Convention has entailed for Swedish law, with a particular focus on the objectives of the judicial process and the role of environmental organizations in relation to authorities. The research questions ad-dress the requirements imposed by Article 9.3 and EU law, how these requirements are fulfilled in Swedish law, what conflicts arise and what these conflicts indicate about ongoing changes. 

The investigation demonstrates that Article 9.3 of the Aarhus Convention grants environmental organizations extensive rights to judicial review against governmental measures that contravene national environmental legislation. Furthermore, within EU law, a specific environmental legal framework has been developed wherein Article 9.3 of the Convention is combined with Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union to achieve effect. The mapping of Swedish law, which constitutes the main part of the thesis, reveals that Swedish law has extensive-ly adapted both national complaint rights provisions and general administrative principles to accommodate Article 9.3, both regarding issues within and outside the Environmental Code, as well as within both EU law and national law. There is significant evidence that Article 9.3 has an autonomous and established position in Swedish law through a general interpretative principle that Swedish law should be interpreted considering internationally binding instruments for Sweden. However, there are areas where Article 9.3 has had limited effect in Swedish law. The dynamics between the impact and the limited impact of Article 9.3 results in a broader analysis. It is concluded that there are conflicts between the judicial process's traditional focus on individual rights and the Aarhus Convention's and EU law's emphasis on collective environmental interests. Additionally, conflicts arise between environmental organizations' roles as scrutinizing actors and authorities' traditional independence. These conflicts are explained by differences in legal traditions and challenges in integrating international norms into an established legal system. The number and context of these conflicts indicate a dynamic and gradual adaptation of Swedish law, rather than a total transformation. Thus, Article 9.3 has strengthened the legal position of environmental organizations and, on a broader scale, contributed to a comprehensive adaptation of the Swedish legal system, a process that based on current legal developments, is expected to continue.}},
  author       = {{Henrikson, Louise}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Miljöorganisationer i globaliseringens korsdrag - Spänningsfältet mellan internationell rätt och svensk rätt: En studie av Århuskonventionens artikel 9.3:s påverkan i svensk rätt}},
  year         = {{2024}},
}