The public's participation in environment protection

The Czech Republic is one of the countries that had signed the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision making and Ac­cess to Justice in Environmental Matters in 1998. Cu­rrently, the ratification process is taking place in CR. This contribution provides an overview and a short descriptíon of legal possibilities given to the public to participate in environmental protection and decision­ making. There are the right to assembly, right to as­sociate with an organization, the right to participate in administration of public matters, right to petiti­on, right to complain, right to make comments, right to participate in adminístrative and civil proceedings, participation in special bodies, the environmental agre­ements and other ways of cooperating with government authorities. At the same time, the legal base for the ac­cess to environmental informatíon is analyzed.
There are many opportunities for the public to par­ticipate in the process of environmental protection pro­vided by the law, however, many improvements are needed to facilitate better conditions for the public to fulfill its role in this process. For example, the duty to assist and provide guidance to the public in seeking access to information in facilitating participation in decision-making and in seeking access to justice in environmental matters is not set by the law. Repor­ting system and adequate flow of information need to be established and environmental information should become available in electronic databases easily accessi­ble to the public.