Judges in Kazakhstan trained on environmental issues by OSCE

An OSCE-supported training seminar on the judicial application of environmental legislation in civil cases took place today in Astana on 14 April 2017.

The event was organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Astana along with the Supreme Court and the Justice Academy under the Supreme Court for some 35 regional courts judges from across the country who were trained  by an expert from the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) on how to resolve disputes arising from the implementation of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention).

Participants reviewed civil cases, international instruments and current changes to the environmental code with respect to reviewing administrative and criminal cases. They also engaged in group exercises such as analysing hypothetical cases of environmental legislation violation and a review of disputes at the Court.

The event is part of the Office’s multi-year activities to build capacity of the host country to fulfil its commitments in strengthening the national institutional and legal frameworks of the Aarhus Convention implementation.