Article 7: Procedural Guarantees
1. Each Party shall ensure that its administrative, quasi-judicial and judicial proceedings referred to in Articles 5(2) and 6(2) are fair, open and equitable, and to this end shall provide that such proceedings:
- (a) comply with due process of law;
- (b) are open to the public, except where the administration of justice otherwise requires;
- (c) entitle the parties to the proceedings to support or defend their respective positions and to present information or evidence; and
- (d) are not unnecessarily complicated and do not entail unreasonable charges or time limits or unwarranted delays.
2. Each Party shall provide that final decisions on the merits of the case in such proceedings are:
- (a) in writing and preferably state the reasons on which the decisions are based;
- (b) made available without undue delay to the parties to the proceedings and, consistent with its law, to the public; and
- (c) based on information or evidence in respect of which the parties were offered the opportunity to be heard.
3. Each Party shall provide, as appropriate, that parties to such proceedings have the right, in accordance with its law, to seek review and, where warranted, correction of final decisions issued in such proceedings.
4. Each Party shall ensure that tribunals that conduct or review such proceedings are impartial and independent and do not have any substantial interest in the outcome of the matter.
PART THREE
COMMISSION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION
Article 8: The Commission
1. The Parties hereby establish the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
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