Access to Justice 3 - Scientific Support for Access to Justice in Environmental Matters in the 21st Legislative Period

The focus of this research project is to examine the practice of legal protection for associations in environmental matters under the Environmental Appeals Act (Umwelt-Rechtsbehelfsgesetz, UmwRG) in its key dimensions. Numerous relevant studies and reports have pointed out since the mid-1970s the significant enforcement deficit in the application of environmental laws. The UmwRG represents an attempt to reduce this enforcement deficit in environmental decision-making in the interest of environmental and nature conservation by introducing the possibility of environmental association litigation (Umweltverbandsklage). It regulates under which conditions recognized environmental and nature conservation associations can have environmentally relevant decisions reviewed by German courts even without being directly affected.

The scope and field of application of environmental association litigation in Germany are shaped by requirements under European and international law. By ratifying the Aarhus Convention, Germany has committed itself to implementing the guarantees granted therein regarding access to environmental information, participation in environmentally relevant decision-making procedures, and access to justice. In particular, the guarantee of access to justice was implemented into national law through the UmwRG.

The most recent amendment to the UmwRG entered into force in mid-2017 and served, among other purposes, to implement rulings of the European Court of Justice as well as decisions of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention. The aim was to enable environmental associations to gain access to courts in full compliance with the requirements of the Aarhus Convention and EU law.

By collecting and analyzing new empirical data from 2024 to 2027 on the use of environmental association litigation in Germany, the often controversial debates surrounding this instrument are to be supplemented with empirical evidence and made more objective. In addition, related legal research questions will be addressed, and expert events involving stakeholders will be conducted.

Results from the Previous Study

The research project builds on the previous project already completed by UfU, which provided scientific support for the 20th legislative period.

For the period from 2021 to 2023, a total of 208 environmental association lawsuits (Umweltverbandsklagen) were identified, averaging approximately 70 lawsuits per year. More than half of the recorded cases ended with a full or partial success for the plaintiff associations. It was also found that out of approximately 400 recognized environmental associations in Germany, only 34 actively made use of their right to bring legal action during the period under review.

In addition, the judicial application of the abuse clause under § 5 UmwRG as well as the deadline for submitting grounds of action under § 6 UmwRG were examined in greater detail. While § 5 UmwRG was not applied in any case during the study period, courts assumed the exclusion of the plaintiff’s submissions (preclusion) on the basis of § 6 para. 2 UmwRG in a total of 19 cases.