On November 2, 2023, in Bishkek, a Memorandum was signed on the creation of a National Dialogue Platform for discussing environmental rights and access to justice on issues related to environmental protection between the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Justice of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Ministry of Natural Resources, ecology and technical supervision of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Bar Association of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Aarhus Center Institution in Bishkek, and also discussed the Regulations of its work.

The National Dialogue Platform for Discussion of Environmental Rights and Access to Justice is a consultative and discussion platform for discussing current issues in the field of access to information, public participation in the decision-making process and access to justice on issues related to the environment and the joint development of appropriate decisions on them. The creation of this National Dialogue Platform was made possible thanks to the agreements reached at the coordination meeting of partners involved in promoting and implementing environmental justice policies held on February 17, 2023. At the partners’ coordination meeting, participants expressed their intention to create a national dialogue platform/platform with the aim of improving overall coordination and interaction, increasing the overall effectiveness of partners’ efforts, regularly exchanging information on current and planned activities and/or on ongoing and planned programs and projects directly or indirectly aimed at to respect the environmental rights of citizens, ensure access to justice, promote and implement environmental justice policies.

During the adoption of the Memorandum, the participants of the National Dialogue Platform committed themselves to the following through their contributions:

• discussion of current issues in the field of environmental justice and environmental issues;
  preparation of analytical materials on compliance with the standards of the Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in matters related to environmental protection;
• development of recommendations for the uniform implementation of legislation in the field of environmental protection;
• development of recommendations for uniform law enforcement practice in the field of environmental protection;
• legal environmental education on compliance with environmental rights of humans and citizens, ensuring access to justice on issues related to environmental protection;
• development of educational, methodological and practical materials on the implementation of the norms of the Aarhus Convention and their dissemination;
• taking measures to include in training and advanced training programs specialists from the judicial system, the prosecutor’s office and the bar, including lawyers of the system of state-guaranteed legal assistance and lawyers – environmental issues and access to justice on issues related to environmental protection;
• participation in guest lectures on environmental issues and access to justice on issues related to environmental protection in Higher Education Institutions;
  other tasks arising from the purposes of this Memorandum.

The parties intend to resolve any disagreements arising in the process of implementing this Memorandum by mutual agreement through consultations and negotiations. It was proposed to become the secretariat of this Platform to the Aarhus Center in Bishkek, which will perform the following functions:

– ensuring the holding of meetings of the National Dialogue Platform;

– preparation and coordination with participants of the agenda of the meeting of the National Dialogue Platform and other materials;

– preparation and distribution of invitations, keeping minutes of meetings, storage and recording of documents;

– performance of other functions arising from these Regulations.