| |
|
Published in Summer 2001
|
What is the “Citizen Submission Process”?
|
| |
|
|
Read related articles:
The citizen submission process is the “whistleblower” mechanism provided by the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation. Under Articles 14 and 15 of the Agreement, any person or nongovernmental organization can submit a claim that a Party to the agreement is failing to enforce a domestic environmental law effectively.
Submissions are made in writing to the Commission. If a submission satisfies a number of criteria required by Article 14, a response may be requested from the Party (country) named in the submission. In light of that response, the Commission may proceed to develop a “factual record” on the matter if the Commission's Council so authorizes.
A factual record outlines, as objectively as possible, the history of the issue, the obligations of the Party under the law in question, the actions of the Party in fulfilling those obligations, and other facts relevant to the assertions made in the submission. Once the factual record is completed, the Council may elect to make it public. A factual record provides information enabling a better understanding of enforcement practices that may prove useful to governments, the submitters and other members of the interested public. It may also lead to other actions beneficial to the environment, related to the issue raised in the submission.
For more details, including how to file a submission, see:
http://www.cec.org/citizen.
|
Top
