The State’s Positive Obligation to Ensure Public Awareness Regarding Environmental Hazard
The State’s Positive Obligation to Ensure Public Awareness Regarding Environmental Hazard
Tumanyan Karen
Summary
Key words: “environmental hazard”, public awareness, access to information, precautionary principle, information equality, independent environmental council
The article substantiates that public awareness of environmental hazards is a key component of the state’s positive obligations, ensuring the provision of timely, complete and accessible information on risks.
The concept of “environmental hazard” used in the article is a doctrinal formulation proposed by the author, which was developed within the framework of relevant scientific research and is aimed at further clarifying the preventive nature of environmental law. This concept fills the gap in legal regulation, moving the legal assessment from the damage stage to the risk stage.
The application of the concept of “environmental hazard” makes it possible to activate legal mechanisms at the risk stage, ensuring prevention, while being informed is a prerequisite for the practical implementation of this approach. It is a component of the protection of life and privacy and an institutional basis for environmental management.
At the same time, the legal regulation of the Republic of Armenia, although formally enshrining the right to access to information, does not ensure its full and systematic implementation, due to the lack of clear standards, procedures and control mechanisms. In this context, the institutionalization of control over access to information through an independent environmental council is considered a necessary condition for the effective implementation of the state’s positive obligations.