- Volume 16 (2018), Issue 2
- Vol. 16 (2018), No. 2
- >
- Pages 158 - 173
- pp. 158 - 173
Schwerpunkt: UmwRG und UVPG ∙ Die verwaltungsprozessualen „Begleitregelungen“ des UmwRG
Innerprozessuale Präklusion, Aussetzung des gerichtlichen Verfahrens zur Fehlerheilung und Auffangrechtsschutz zum Oberverwaltungsgericht
The German Act on Remedies in Environmental Issues (Environmental Remedies Act – ERA) implements the provisions of the European directives on Environmental Impact Assessment and on Industrial Emissions, which require national legislation to provide sufficient remedies to challenge specific administrative actions concerning the environment. Additionally, the Act also implements Article 9 (2) (3) of the Aarhus Convention. In its short history, the ERA has been amended abundantly, mostly to comply with recent decisions of the European Court of Justice. Gradually, the ERA became more and more technical and almost incomprehensive. The last amendment from May 2017 (ERA Amendment Act 2017) has inflated the ERA with detailed corollary provisions, which I will analyse in this essay. As ECJ found the common substantive preclusion provisions in administrative law incompatible with EU law, the ERA Amendment Act 2017 introduces a new procedural preclusion, forcing plaintiffs to substantiate their claim within a strict time limit after filing a lawsuit. Another provisions allows the court to suspend judicial proceedings, enabling the administration to repair procedural errors, which occurred during the administrative procedure. Finally, a new type of lawsuit allows environmental associations to challenge specific planning decisions, which were not subject of direct (but mere indirect) judicial review, hitherto.