In the city of Bishkek, on the basis of the Higher School of Justice (HSJ) at the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, a training course for judges of the Kyrgyz Republic on the basics of the Aarhus Convention began. The organizers of the training are the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Association of Judges (AJ) of the Kyrgyz Republic and the Aarhus Center in Bishkek with the support of the OSCE Program Office in Bishkek.

The training will be carried out on the basis of developed teaching aids – training manuals and modules, which were developed by employees of the AJ KR and approved by the Council of Judges of the Supreme Court of the KR. During the training process, it is planned to train approximately 80 judges from various regions of the country.

The main goal of the training is to strengthen the capacity of judges of the Kyrgyz Republic on issues regarding the application of national environmental legislation (NEL) and the Aarhus Convention – access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice on issues related to environmental protection. This training will provide an opportunity to gain knowledge about the Aarhus Convention and its application in the judicial system, to familiarize training participants with the latest adopted regulatory legal acts of the Kyrgyz Republic in the field of environmental protection. Thus, the organizers of the training hope that judges of the Kyrgyz Republic will apply the acquired knowledge when citizens of the Kyrgyz Republic appeal for violations of their environmental rights, taking into account the provisions of the Aarhus Convention.

On September 21, 15 judges of the city of Bishkek, Chui and Talas regions underwent training in the training hall of the Supreme Court of Justice. The training trainers were Arstanbaeva D.E. – Judge of the Supreme Court of the Kyrgyz Republic, Chairman of the Board of the Arbitration Court of the Kyrgyz Republic and V. Boltobaeva – independent lawyer, member of the Arbitration Court of the Kyrgyz Republic. They provided the necessary materials, introduced the Aarhus Convention and legislative acts in the field of environmental protection, conducted practical exercises and tests with training participants.

On behalf of the Aarhus Center, each participant was given collections of regulatory legal acts in the field of environmental protection for 2016-2022, reference books on legislation in the field of environmental protection of the Kyrgyz Republic, a manual on the Aarhus Convention and other materials that the training participants can use in their work.

At the end of the training, on behalf of the HSJ, the AJ, the OSCE Program Office in Bishkek and the Aarhus Center, training certificates were issued to each participant in the event.

The plan of the Aarhus Center in Bishkek includes conducting trainings in Osh, Jalal-Abad and Cholpon-Ata.