FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY - Article 19

ARTICLE 19GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE EXPRESSIONthe motorway’s route may not be consulted. 263 Thirdly, some environmental activists have noticed thatunknown individuals participate and vote; they believe that some of them might have been ‘hired’ forthe vote. 264 Fourthly, given the scarcity of information on the environmental impact of new activitiesand the limited awareness of environmental issues generally, many people do not participate in publichearings and do not exercise their right to have a say on issues that might adversely affect them.In practice, there have been very few cases in which people have succeeded in stopping Stateprojects through public hearings.% % The relatively new public councils – civil society/expert advisory panels to State institutions – are apositive initiative as they enable some degree of civic oversight over decision-making and policydevelopment, including on environmental matters. 265 They are gradually being set up, but do not yetexist across the country. 266Members of public councils should be independent, although in many cases they are from‘pocket NGOs’ (NGOs effectively established by the State and serving its interests ) or are publicofficials, in violation of the relevant regulations.Public councils are not always efficient. However, the MEP’s public council is generallyconsidered one of the best as there are some capable and experienced NGO representatives among itsmembers. 267 It monitors the budget, discusses issues and complaints with the Minister, as well as theimplementation of the Aarhus Convention. The MEP’s public council has been developingrecommendations for the development of environmental policies. Although in some cases itsrecommendations have been taken into account, in others they have not.9,&,: " 6 %6Corruption and mismanagement are among the main factors that have an adverse impact on access toenvironmental information. One of the reasons why many Ukrainian politicians are perceived as beingsusceptible to corruption is their close links with businesses.In a 2007 resolution, the PACE expressed serious concerns about shortcomings in thefunctioning of Ukraine’s democratic institutions, including systematic misuse of the judicial system by‘other branches of power’. Among a series of recommendations on how to improve the democratic263 Interview with Borys Vasylkivskyy, EcoPravo-Kyiv, see note 212.264 Interview with Oleg Listopad, see note 82.265 For legal provisions on public councils, see Section 4.6.266 Interview with Tetyana Tymochko, see note 49.267 Interview with EcoPravo-Kyiv, July 2007. The members of the MEP’s public council include the Director ofthe Aarhus Centre and Ecological League.For Internal Use Only. Is Post-Chornobyl Ukraine Ready for Access to Environmental Information?ARTICLE 19, London, 2007'&