MountainLEX, designed by the Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, is the first online database to provide a clear and easy access to legislation for the protection and development of mountains, with special emphasis on European mountains. As this field is not precisely defined, the purpose is not to present a comprehensive compendium of texts but a selection of the most relevant documents.

In order to find a text quickly or to have a global view of a particular decision level, the database is ordered in three categories, in which it has been decided to also include, beside legal documents, so-called “soft” law texts:

-  International law: general and (non European) regional legislation

-  European law: EU and Council of Europe legislation as well as intergovernmental agreements

-  National law: 8 Contracting Parties of the Alpine Convention (national and federal, when appropriate)

At last, you can find in a 4^th category declarations and charters adopted (entirely or in part) by private organizations. These texts, even without any binding effect, are very interesting as they represent well the state of discussion on the subject at a given moment.

Full texts are available in English or otherwise in original version.

Last updated in: October 2012.