Public Participation and Access to Information Sample Clauses

Public Participation and Access to Information. The ILC Draft recognises that the modern trend in international environmental law is to seek to involve, “in the decision-making processes, individuals whose lives, health, property and environment might be affected by providing them with a chance to present their views and be heard by those responsible for making the ultimate decisions”.128 The participation of all involved stakeholders is an important aspect of sustainable use of natural resources such as international watercourses, as the interests of people who live along the watercourses should be regarded in the allocation and use of waters. This has been pointed out by Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, declaring that “Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment /…/and the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes. States shall facilitate and encourage public awareness and participation by making information widely available. Effective access to judicial and administrative proceedings, including redress and remedy, shall be provided”. The inclusion of local communities in the management of watercourses also has the advantage of adding local knowledge of ecosystems etc. to the management knowledgebase. The principle of public participation has been included in numerous international treaties.129 ▇▇▇▇▇▇ and ▇▇▇▇▇ detect an emerging legal significance of the principle but nevertheless maintain that the status of the principle under international law is somewhat questionable.130
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Public Participation and Access to Information. The principle of public participation has neither been included in the Agreement, nor in the subsequent rules. A policy instrument has however been developed by consultants and approved by the JC in 1999.274 The paper outlines the concept, basic terminologies, and principal guidelines for public participation in context of the MRC. Thus, in the context of the MRC: “Public Participation is a process through which key stakeholders gain influence and take part in decision making in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of MRC programs and projects”.275 MRC appreciates that the process of public participation goes through four stages of activities, namely, information gathering, information dissemination, consultation and participation that culminate in some level of decision making power.276 Since 2002, selected civil society representatives have been invited to attend the meetings of the Mekong committee and the council.277 This is definitely a step in the right direction; in this position NGOs can function as ‘focal points’ between MRC and the public, and act towards transparency in the decision-making process. This important role of NGOs as ‘middle hands’ in international institutions is acknowledged by the Aarhus convention.278 As noted above,279 the principle of sustainable development is to govern the cooperation of the Mekong. One of the principles of sustainable development is principle 10, relating to public participation and access to information. The importance of “full public participation in water management policy-making and decision-making” including that of women, youth, indigenous people, and local communities is also stressed in Agenda 21, 280 to which Mekong Region countries are signatories.281 The MRC has been criticised by local river communities for not taking account of their views and not including them in dialogues and processes concerning the development of the river.282 Following a 282 Declaration by Local Communities of the River Basins in Thailand, 11/02. The declaration can be found on this web page: ▇▇▇▇://▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇.▇▇▇/declmekrith.htm (2004- 10-28). MRC and the Agreement have also been criticized in the Declaration of Fishers of ‘Dialogue on River Basin Development and Civil Society in the Mekong’, organised by a coalition of NGOs and universities a declaration was publicly released.283 The declaration claims that in the work of the MRC, ‘civil society’ involvement has been reduced to “the groups that provid...
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Related to Public Participation and Access to Information

  • Power Supply Information and Access to Information POWER SUPPLY INFORMATION

  • Information and Access (a) The Company and Parent each shall (and shall cause its Subsidiaries to, and shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to cause, its and their respective Representatives to), upon the reasonable request by the other, furnish to the other, as promptly as practicable, with all information concerning itself, its Representatives and such other matters as may be necessary or advisable in connection with the Schedule 14D-9 or Schedule TO (including with respect to Parent, information concerning the Investors) and any information or documentation to effect the expiration of all waiting periods under applicable Antitrust Laws and all filings, notices, reports, consents, registrations, approvals, permits and authorizations, made or sought by or on behalf of Parent, the Company or any of their respective Affiliates to or from any third party, including any Governmental Entity, in each case necessary or advisable in connection with the Transactions and, with respect to the information supplied in writing by or on behalf of Parent, its Affiliates or its or their respective Representatives for inclusion in or incorporation by reference into the Schedule 14D-9, including with respect to the Investors. Each of Parent and the Company acknowledges and agrees that such information supplied by it pursuant to this Section 7.8(a) (as applicable) will be correct and complete in all material respects at the time so supplied. (b) In addition to and without limiting the rights and obligations set forth in Section 7.8(a), the Company shall (and shall cause its Subsidiaries to), upon reasonable prior notice, afford Parent and its Representatives reasonable access, during normal business hours, from the date of this Agreement and continuing until the earlier of the Effective Time and the termination of this Agreement pursuant to Article IX, to the Company Employees, agents, properties, offices and other facilities, Contracts, books and records, and, during such period, the Company shall (and shall cause its Subsidiaries to) furnish promptly to Parent all other information and documents concerning or regarding its businesses, properties and assets and personnel as may reasonably be requested by or on behalf of Parent; provided, however, that, subject to compliance with the obligations set forth in Section 7.8(c): (i) neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall be required to provide such access or furnish such information or documents to the extent doing so would, in the reasonable opinion of the Company’s outside legal counsel result in (A) a violation of applicable Law, (B) the breach of any contractual confidentiality obligations in any Contract with a third party entered into prior to the date of this Agreement or following the date of this Agreement in compliance with Section 7.1 and Section 7.2; (C) waive the protection of any attorney-client privilege or protection (including attorney-client privilege, attorney work-product protections and confidentiality protections) or any other applicable privilege or protection concerning pending or threatened Proceedings, in any material respect; or (D) such information or documents are reasonably pertinent to any adverse Proceeding between the Company and its Affiliates, on the one hand, and Parent and its Affiliates, on the other hand (subject to any rules or guidelines of discovery applicable to such adverse Proceeding); and (ii) in no event shall the work papers of the Company’s and its Subsidiaries’ independent accountants and auditors be accessible to Parent or any of its Representative unless and until such accountants and auditors have provided a consent related thereto in form and substance reasonably acceptable to such auditors or independent accountants. Any investigation conducted pursuant to the access contemplated by this Section 7.8(b) will be conducted in a manner that does not unreasonably interfere with the conduct of the business of the Company and its Subsidiaries and that would not reasonably be expected to create a risk of damage or destruction to any property or assets of the Company or its Subsidiaries. Any access to the properties of the Company and its Subsidiaries shall be subject to the Company’s reasonable security measures and insurance requirements and shall not include the right to perform any “invasive” testing or soil, air or groundwater sampling, including any Phase II environmental assessments. All requests for such access or information made pursuant to this Section 7.8(b) shall be initially directed to the Person set forth on Section 7.8(b) of the Company Disclosure Schedule, which Person may be replaced by the Company at any time by providing written notice to Parent, and any access granted in connection with a request made pursuant to this Section 7.8(b) shall be supervised by such Persons. (c) In the event that the Company objects to any request submitted pursuant to Section 7.8(b) on the basis of one or more of the matters set forth in clause (i) of Section 7.8(b), it must do so by providing Parent, in reasonable detail, the nature of what is being prevented and/or withheld and the reasons and reasonable support therefor, and prior to preventing such access or withholding such information or documents from Parent and its Representatives, the Company shall cooperate with Parent to make appropriate substitute arrangements to permit reasonable disclosure that does not suffer from any of the impediments expressly set forth in clause (i) of Section 7.8(b) (other than clause (D)) including through the use of commercially reasonable efforts to take such actions and implement appropriate and mutually agreeable measures to as promptly as practicable permit such access and the furnishing of such information and documents in a manner to remove the basis for the objection, including by arrangement of appropriate “counsel-to-counsel” disclosure, clean room procedures, redaction and other customary procedures, entry into a customary joint defense agreement and, with respect to the contractual confidentiality obligations contemplated by clause (i)(B) of Section 7.8(b), obtaining a waiver with respect to or consent under such contractual confidentiality obligations. (d) Without limiting the generality of the other provisions of this Section 7.8, the Company and Parent, as each deems advisable and necessary, after consultation with their respective outside legal counsel, may reasonably designate competitively sensitive information and documents (including those that relate to valuation of the Company or Parent (as the case may be)) as “Outside Counsel Only Information.” Such information and documents shall only be provided to the outside legal counsel of the Company or Parent (as the case may be), or subject to such other similar restrictions mutually agreed to by the Company and Parent, and subject to any amendment, supplement or other modification to the Confidentiality Agreement or additional confidentiality or joint defense agreement between or among the Company and Parent; provided, however, that, subject to any applicable Laws relating to the exchange of information, the outside legal counsel receiving such information and documents may prepare one or more reports summarizing the results of any analysis of any such shared information and documents, and disclose such reports, other summaries or aggregated information derived from such shared information and documents to Representatives of such outside legal counsel’s client. (e) No access or information provided to Parent or any of its Representatives or to the Company or any of its Representatives following the date of this Agreement, whether pursuant to this Section 7.8 or otherwise, shall affect or be deemed to affect, modify or waive the representations and warranties of the Parties set forth in this Agreement and, for the avoidance of doubt, all information and documents disclosed or otherwise made available pursuant to Section 7.5, Section 7.6, this Section 7.8 or otherwise in connection with this Agreement and the Transactions shall be governed by the terms and conditions of the Confidentiality Agreement mutatis mutandis as if Parent were Counterparty (as defined in the Confidentiality Agreement) and subject to applicable Laws relating to the exchange or sharing of information and any restrictions or requirements imposed by any Governmental Entity; provided, that, in the event of a conflict, the provisions of Section 7.13 shall override any conflicting provisions of the Confidentiality Agreement, and any Person who is a potential source of, or may provide, equity, debt or any other type of financing to Parent or any of its Representatives in connection with the Transactions shall be deemed a “Representative” for purposes of the Confidentiality Agreement without the prior written consent of the Company.

  • Records Retention and Access 1. Grantee will keep and maintain accurate and complete records necessary to determine compliance with this Contract and applicable laws. 2. Grantee will provide access to its records to DFPS, the Texas State Auditor’s Office (SAO), the federal government, and their authorized representatives. 3. Unless otherwise specified in this Contract, Grantee will maintain legible copies of Subcontracts under this Contract and all related documentation for a minimum of seven years after the termination of this Contract or seven years after the completion of any litigation or dispute involving the Contract, whichever is longer. ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ WILL NOT DISPOSE OF RECORDS BEFORE PROVIDING THE DFPS CONTRACT MANAGER WRITTEN NOTICE OF ITS INTENT TO DISPOSE OF RECORDS AND RECEIVING WRITTEN APPROVAL FROM THE DFPS CONTRACT MANAGER.

  • Cooperation and Access The Cooperative Member agrees that it will cooperate in compliance with any reasonable requests for information and/or records made by the Cooperative. The Cooperative reserves the right to audit the relevant records of any Cooperative Member. Any breach of this provision shall be considered material and shall make the Agreement subject to termination on ten (10) days written notice to the Cooperative Member.

  • Access to Information; Independent Investigation Prior to the execution of this Agreement, the Subscriber has had the opportunity to ask questions of and receive answers from representatives of the Company concerning an investment in the Company, as well as the finances, operations, business and prospects of the Company, and the opportunity to obtain additional information to verify the accuracy of all information so obtained. In determining whether to make this investment, Subscriber has relied solely on Subscriber’s own knowledge and understanding of the Company and its business based upon Subscriber’s own due diligence investigation and the information furnished pursuant to this paragraph. Subscriber understands that no person has been authorized to give any information or to make any representations which were not furnished pursuant to this Section 2 and Subscriber has not relied on any other representations or information in making its investment decision, whether written or oral, relating to the Company, its operations and/or its prospects.