Other times, governments act as a private person in social associations, as a party to agreements, as a tenant or landlord, as a buyer or seller. In other words, state property is sold, or leased, to private persons or private institutions. In these cases the government acts as a seller. When a seller and a buyer make a contract, third parties are outsiders. They are interested in how the activity concerned is continued, which conditions apply, who is responsible for the environmental damage caused in the past.
Many legal systems do permit the intervention of third parties.
Especially if someone is directly and personally harmed and can prove this. When public services are privatized, great interests are often at stake, usually with far-reaching consequences for the environment as well as for citizens. Moreover, public property is being sold, property belonging to the whole population. Therefore, the citizens have to be allowed to participate in the process of privatization, though they, of course, cannot be one of the contracting parties. However, the plan, the intention, or the decision to privatize a company or a whole branch of industry can be subjects of public participation.