The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) issued, on January 11, 2024, a judgement confirming the compatibility of the conditions for the admissibility of the action in the administrative contentious dispute under Romanian positive law with the EU law. Among other mandatory considerations, the Luxembourg Court ruled that Article 9 (3) of the Aarhus Convention must be interpreted as not precluding national legislation under which a legal entity, other than a non-governmental organisation for the protection of the environment, is recognised as having standing to bring proceedings against an administrative measure of which it is not the addressee only where it claims that there has been a failure to observe a legitimate private interest or an interest connected to a legal situation which is directly related to the object of that entity.
In accordance with a constant case-law, the Court recalled that the states party to the Aarhus Convention are not obliged to establish in their national law a system of popular action (actio popularis), through which anyone can contest any decision, act or omission concerning environmental matters. The CJEU decision, delivered in case C-252/22, ensures the necessary balance between the interest of environmental protection and the interest of the proper functioning of justice. The legal means for the protection of the environment are only effective if they are accompanied by reasonable conditions of exercise, designed to restrict the possibility of their misuse.
The defence of the Suceava County Council and the President of the Suceava County Council before the national courts and before the CJEU was provided by the STOICA & ASOCIAȚII lawyers team consisting of Cătălina Dicu (Senior Partner) and Yolanda Beșleagă (Senior Associate), under the coordination of Prof. univ. emeritus Valeriu Stoica, PhD (Founding Partner).
The hearing in case C-252/22 took place on May 4, 2023, at the seat of the Court in Luxembourg. The Suceava County Council and the President of the Suceava County Council were represented before the Court during the hearing of May 4, 2023 by Valeriu Stoica and Yolanda Beșleagă.
The decision can be consulted by accessing the following link:
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