Yesterday, the European Court of Justice ruled on the question whether - in short -
article 6:13 of the General Administrative Law Act (Algemene wet
bestuursrecht, "Awb") is in conflict with the Aarhus
Convention.
This question came before the European Court of Justice via a
preliminary question from the administrative judge of the district
court of Limburg, following appeal proceedings concerning the
granting of a permit for a new pig shed with room for more than 750
sows.
What did the Court of Limburg ask the European Court of
Justice?
In essence, the referring court requested, on the basis of six
questions, whether:
- the restriction of access to the
courts to only 'interested parties' within the meaning of
Article 1:2 of the Awb is compatible with the Aarhus Convention;
and
