The Aarhus Convention obliges states and grants the public rights in three areas of the convention: access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters in accordance with the provisions of the Convention.

• Adopted: 25 June 1998
• Opened for signature: 25 June 1998
• Entered into force: 30 October 2001
• Parties: 48 parties (including the European Union) (see table below)

More information about the Aarhus Convention can be found here.

The text of the Aarhus Convention is available here.

The current status of the Aarhus Convention is available here.

The following articles related to the Aarhus Convention were published in the Nuclear Law Bulletin and Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law:

• Environmental Law and Nuclear Law: A Growing Symbiosis, by S. Emmerechts (NLB 82, p. 91).
• Nuclear and environmental law in the licensing of nuclear installations, by C. Raetzke (NLB 92, p. 55).
• The modern nuclear liability regime’s concept of “environmental damage”: How national courts may apply it and what remedies they may provide for such damage, by S. Knopp Pisi (NLB 111, p. 23).
• Nuclear activities and environmental protection: The international legal framework, by K.S. Nick and P. Bowden (Principles and Practice of International Nuclear Law, p. 211).

* Country with at least one nuclear power plant in operation.