Book contents
- The Right of Access to Environmental Information
- The Right of Access to Environmental Information
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Cases
- Table of Decisions of the Information Commissioner (England and Wales)
- Table of International Instruments
- Table of Findings and Recommendations of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee and Decisions of the Meeting of the Parties
- Table of European Union Legislative Instruments
- Table of National Legislative Instruments
- Table of Official Documents, Explanatory Memorandum and Guidance Documents
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Bridging the Gaps between Jurisdictions
- 3 The Aarhus Convention
- 4 The Environmental Information Regime in England
- 5 The Right of Access to Environmental Information in the United States
- 6 East Meets West
- 7 The Future Development of the Right of Access to Environmental Information
- 8 Conclusions, Key Findings and Future Directions
- Bibliography
- Index
4 - The Environmental Information Regime in England
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 November 2021
- The Right of Access to Environmental Information
- The Right of Access to Environmental Information
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Table of Cases
- Table of Decisions of the Information Commissioner (England and Wales)
- Table of International Instruments
- Table of Findings and Recommendations of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee and Decisions of the Meeting of the Parties
- Table of European Union Legislative Instruments
- Table of National Legislative Instruments
- Table of Official Documents, Explanatory Memorandum and Guidance Documents
- Abbreviations
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Bridging the Gaps between Jurisdictions
- 3 The Aarhus Convention
- 4 The Environmental Information Regime in England
- 5 The Right of Access to Environmental Information in the United States
- 6 East Meets West
- 7 The Future Development of the Right of Access to Environmental Information
- 8 Conclusions, Key Findings and Future Directions
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 4 analyses how England’s environmental information regime, set out in the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR), have guaranteed the right of access to environmental information. The chapter focuses on how the EIR reflects or fails to reflect the core elements of the right. The chapter analyses the various aspects of the EIR regime: the scope of the EIR; the requirements imposed on users seeking to submit requests for access to environmental information; the obligations imposed on a public authority in responding to requests for environmental information; the power granted to public authorities to levy charges; the ability of public authorities to withhold environmental information from disclosure; and the review procedures available to users to challenge the decisions of public authorities and their treatment of requests. The chapter identifies that England’s conceptualisation of the right reflects the environmental protection aims and identity-blind conceptualisation of the Aarhus Convention. The chapter concludes that the Aarhus Convention has had a normative impact on how the right is conceptualised and guaranteed in England.
Keywords
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Right of Access to Environmental Information , pp. 60 - 98Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021