Articles
The Public Participation Principle: Effective Implementation of Aarhus Participation Rights by the European Union Legal Framework
ALISON HOUGH
Barrister-at-Law, Athlone Institute of Technology, Ireland
This paper considers the principle of Public Participation as envisaged by the Aarhus Convention. It addresses the academic debate regarding the true nature of public participation as a civil and political right and the lack of consensus regarding the limits and definition of the right. An examination of the manner in which the European Union Law framework implements the right is then carried out, seeking to establish the extent to which the Public Participation Principle is fully vindicated by the European Union Legal Framework. In doing so this paper focuses on the areas of Environmental Impact Assessment and the Industrial Emissions regimes

Unstunting stunted public participation in the regulation of environmental protection
TINASHE MADEBWE, Practicing Environmental Lawyer, Zimbabwe

Public participation in the regulation of environmental protection is key to the attainment of environmental protection objectives. Despite this, history shows that state officials have consistently stunted opportunities for public participation and, thus, compromised the attainment of environmental protection objectives. I argue that the reason behind this is the regulatory capture of these officials. I also consider that captured officials’ central tool in stunting participation has been the misinformation of the public in order to dissuade them from participation through manipulation of reporting on environmental protection by the widely trusted, and relied on, news arm of the mass media. As such, I argue that the key to greater participation in environmental protection, which would fuel the attainment of objectives, is through the turn to delivering information through other means, most notably social media platforms, and in a manner that would facilitate participation.

Coastal indigenous peoples in the Arctic and the protection of the marine environment
LARA FORNABAIO, University of Ferrara, Italy,
MARGHERITA PAOLA POTO, Postdoctoral Fellow, K. G. Jebsen Centre for the Law of the Sea (JCLOS), UiT, Tromsø, Norway

The article identifies the main challenges that climate change and environmental threats pose to the population living in the Arctic, especially looking at the indigenous peoples whose survival depends on the marine environment. The analysis starts from some considerations on the need to provide special protection to the Arctic marine environment and its coastal indigenous peoples, before shifting to an analysis of the different regulatory answers to the threats posed by climate change on the Arctic environment and on the indigenous population, as provided by international, regional and national actors, and namely: (i) the Arctic Council’s activity addressed to establish marine protected areas (MPAs); (ii) the European Union’s attempts to preserve the Arctic Sea; and (iii) the national establishment of MPAs with the consultation of the indigenous groups. The objective of the contribution is to investigate the effectiveness of the current legal tools to guarantee an adequate level of protection for both the marine environment and the coastal population, as well as on possible ways to improve it. 

Case Commentary
Water into gas should not go
ROSALIND ENGLISH, 1 Crown Office Row

Book Review
Handbook of Transnational Environmental Crime
FABIO GIUFFRIDA, Queen Mary, University of London.

Strategic Issues
Scotland
SARAH HENDRY, Senior Lecturer in Law, Centre for Water Law, Policy and Science,
University of Dundee

Current Survey
European Union
MARTIN HEDEMANN-ROBINSON University of Kent, Canterbury
Key Policy Developments May–June 2017
Nature Protection.
Chemicals.
Water Policy.
Climate Change..
Law Enforcement Issues May–June 2017
Waste.
Water.
Industry.
Transport.
Environmental Information.
Noise.
Energy.
Nature Protection.
Air Quality.
EU Environmental Legislation Update.