As part of the project to build the concept of international legal protection, Lake Baikal, supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, considered the key provisions of the 1998 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, the so-called Aarhus Convention, and the Protocol on Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (PRTRs) 2003, bearing in mind, above all, their potential for developing the mechanism of international legal protection of Lake Baikal. It was analyzed the experience of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Republic of Belarus in implementing the provisions of these international instruments into national legislation, as well as the creation and development of the Aarhus Centers in these countries of the post-Soviet space. The experience and current position of the Russian Federation on the perception of the provisions and mechanisms of the Aarhus Convention in the national legal system and law enforcement practices are highlighted. The conclusion that the use of conventional mechanisms for access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters enshrined in these international instruments to preserve the unique ecosystem of the Lake Baikal World Heritage Site is justified.

Aarhus Convention, right to information, public, justice, international legal protection, Lake Baikal, Russian Federation

Shornikov Dmitry Vladimirovich – Candidate of Juridical Sciences, Associate Professor, Head of the Department of International Law and Comparative Law, Director of the Research Institute of Legal Protection of Baikal of the Irkutsk State University, Law Institute, Irkutsk State University (1, K. Marx st., Irkutsk, 664003, Russian Federation), e-mail: abirvalg35@mail.ru

Shornikov D. V. Potencial Orhusskoj konvencii dlya formirovaniya mezhdunarodno-pravovogo mekhanizma ohrany ozera Bajkal [Potential of the Aarhus Convention for the Establishment of an International Legal Mechanosm for the Protection of Lake Baikal] Sibirskij yuridicheskij vestnik [Siberian Law Herald]. 2022, no 1(96), pp. 127–133. DOI 10.26516/2071-8136.2022.1.127. (in Russian).

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