The Right of Access to Environmental Information in Ukraine and the EU

Abstract

The purpose of our scholarly work is to explore legal regulation of access to environmental information and public participation in environmental decision-making in Ukraine and the EU. The article considers how the Aarhus Convention has been implemented in EU member states and Ukraine, concentrating on the public access to information as a valid instrument for environmental protection. Taking part in the Erasmus + Jean Monnet Module "EU Environmental Policy and Law" we have analyzed the possibility of obtaining operative environmental information on the state of the environment in cities and villages of Ukraine. We also have studied European standards in the sphere of disclosure of environmental information and public participation, found some gaps in Ukrainian legislation and filled them in. We offer an interdisciplinary approach: integration of information law, environmental law, international law, human rights and national security. This will allow us to form a conceptual understanding of the legal regulation of information on the environment as an object of realization of information human rights and a component of national security in the context of environmental threats.

The Role of Legal Culture in Maintaining Social Stability and Countering Separatist Movements: Case of Ukraine

“…Skills, legal thinking, legal feelings -a sense of law, legality, a sense of respect for law, to those Published by ECSDEV, Via dei Fiori, 34, 00172, Rome, Italy http://ecsdev.org social values that are regulated and protected by law and legislation. Legal education consists of the following parts: -tasks that should promote legitimacy and social stability in society (Ladychenko, 2018); -principles: systematicity, continuity of implementation, purposefulness, consistency, provision with both certain means and trained personnel (Gulac, 2019); -forms, among which are: legal education (training), which is the most effective and effective form, since it gives a certain system of legal knowledge; legal advocacy -the dissemination of certain legal ideas and legislation among a large population; legal agitation -dissemination of legal ideas and knowledge among a small population; legitimate socially active activity -carried out practically in the process of implementation of legal norms; self-education; -content -legal knowledge and to what extent it should be given (Vedernikov, 2005). The development of the state is impossible without the legal culture of each its citizen, which determines universal respect for law in society, the cultivation of the rule of law and, therefore, the real functioning of all other institutions of the state.…”

Waste Management at the Local Level in the EU and Ukraine

“…They should reflect the local situation in terms of waste management (Yara, 2018), resource conservation, sustainable consumption, social needs, etc. (Ladychenko, 2018). In Ukraine, the following problems in the sphere of handling domestic waste could be singled out: about half of landfills for solid wastes do not meet sanitary standards (Gulac, 2019); the lack of a sufficient number of incineration plants ; absence of obligatory sorting of household waste by the population (Funta, 2016); sanctions against persons who create spontaneous landfills are ineffective (significant number of unauthorized dumps are generated each year); insufficient stimulation of enterprises using secondary raw materials, low level of culture of the population in relation to the use of domestic waste, etc.…”

Dissemination of Environmental Information in the E-Governance system: World Trends and Experience for Ukraine

“…Access to environmental information has been repeatedly explored by us , including in the context of global climate change (Ladychenko, 2019). Environmental policy and environmental standards have been the subject of research by many scientists (Funta, 2016;Gulac, 2019;Kachur, 2020; © 2020 The Authors.…”