On 18th and 19th of April, in the office facilities of CED Florozon, 2 metings with focus groups were held as part of the activities of the project Equal Access for Effective Justice. The discussions included participants from the state institutions, the judicial sector, lawyers and civil society organizations that provide free legal aid and work with marginalized, vulnerable groups.
The activity was conducted by external experts and after the meetings participants are going to fill out a Need Assessment Questionnaire, in order for the experts to prepare a report on the current situation and the needs of the organizations and the citizens. This report will serve as a tool to argue the current situation in front of the relevant institutions and stakeholders to improve the present situation with the implementation of the Aarhus Convention and the principle of access to justice. These focus groups have a goal to hear out the real needs and challenges that civil society organizations face everyday. The general impression from the focus groups expresses the lack of information and education in the field of environmental justice, especially when it comes to the implementation of the Aarhus Convention, which was ratified in 1999. Twenty years later, the country is still struggling with implementation and these focus groups are foreseen to contribute towards improvement of the situation.