Articles for tag: Ecuador, Ecuadorian Constitutional Court, Implementation, Rechte der Natur

Are Rights of Nature Working?

Legal initiatives recognizing the rights of nature have transformed from a trickle to a cascade. But are they really effective? A systematic study on the implementation of the Ecuadorian Los Cedros ruling, one of the most prominent decisions of this sort, shows that it has been notably effective in protecting the forest from mining threats. However, its impact on local community involvement has been limited, and the fate of Los Cedros and the case remain vulnerable.

8. August 2024

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Von Flüssen und Dieselabgasen

Rechte der Natur sind eine derzeit viel diskutierte Reaktion auf die multiplen Umweltkrisen. Immer häufiger finden solche Rechte, seien es Rechte von Flüssen, Wäldern oder einzelnen Tieren, Eingang in konkrete Gerichtsverfahren. In den letzten Wochen fanden tausende Kilometer voneinander entfernt zwei derartige mündliche Verhandlungen statt. In Ecuador – dem bislang einzigen Land, das der Natur in seiner Verfassung eigene Rechte zuspricht – reichten Aktivist*innen öffentlichkeitswirksam eine Klage im Namen des unter Verschmutzung leidenden Machángara Fluss in Quito ein. In Deutschland verhandelte das Landgericht Erfurt, ob aus der EU-Grundrechtecharta abzuleitende Rechte der Natur in den Dieselabgasfällen eine Rolle spielen könnten.

18. Juni 2024

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Catalysts of Eco-Constitutional Evolution

On a lawsuit brought forth by a women’s association of the indigenous Kukama people. The association sought recognition of the intrinsic rights of the Marañón River. The judgement is part of a broader constitutional trend towards recognizing nature’s own rights. This movement is notably being driven by Latin American nations where indigenous perspectives on nature emphasize the intrinsic link between a healthy environment and the realization of human rights, thereby softening the adversarial stance between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism. As such, this jurisprudence may serve as catalyst for the ecological constitutional evolution of Western legal systems.

10. April 2024

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Mit der Spree verhandeln

Die Mediation greift im Gegensatz zur gerichtlichen Konfliktlösung auf eine jüngere Historie und weniger Praxisfälle zurück. Dennoch hat sie der gerichtlichen Konfliktlösung einen wesentlichen – und angesichts der rasant voranschreitenden Umweltzerstörung vielleicht sogar entscheidenden – Aspekt voraus: Mediation kann Ökologie. Sie ist ein Konfliktlösungsverfahren, das in seiner konsequenten Anwendung originär zur Erhaltung der Lebensgrundlage beiträgt. Denn die Mediation, die als Verfahrensziel den Interessenausgleich der Konfliktbeteiligten anstrebt, weiß um die Notwendigkeit der Beteiligung aller vom Konflikt Betroffenen für die Gewährleistung einer ökologisch nachhaltigen Konfliktlösung. Damit hat sie eben nicht nur die menschliche Spezies, sondern auch die Tier- und Umwelt im Blick.

16. Juni 2023

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Towards European Rights of Nature

On 24 February, Marie-Christine Fuchs on this blog discussed the 2022 Spanish Mar Menor Act – the first rights of nature case in Europe – in light of Latin American precedents and the criticism the Act is facing from right-wing populists in Spain. Whether the Act remains the first law in Europe granting rights to a non-human natural entity will now be decided by the Spanish Constitutional Court. In her analysis of the socio-legal foundations of the Mar Menor Act, Fuchs argues that it had a “more fragile argumentative basis” than precedents in Latin America. In contrast, this article argues that the Spanish legislator succeeded in placing the Mar Menor Act on its own argumentative footing, thus opening the door for a genuinely Western liberal conception and implementation of rights of nature in Europe.

28. Februar 2023

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Rights of Nature Reach Europe

On September 30, 2022, the Spanish Senate approved the "Mar Menor Act" (Law 19/2022) which granted legal personality to the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin. Being the first legal text in Europe to recognize a natural entity as a subject of rights, it is one more piece in the mosaic of a global movement towards ecological justice, which tries to find strong legal answers in times of global ecological crisis. In fact, the Spanish landmark decision follows the precedents of countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, New Zealand, India and the United States. In this context, it is worth asking whether the legal and socio-cultural bases of the concept of the rights of nature, as developed in the aforementioned cases, especially in those stemming from Latin America, are also sustainable in Europe and for the Mar Menor case.

24. Februar 2023

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The Mar Menor Lagoon Enjoys Legal Standing: and now, what?

On 30th September, the Spanish Parliament has completed the ‘Mar Menor Act’, granting legal personality to the lagoon of the Mar Menor and its basin. It is the first legal text in Europe which gives rights and legal standing to a natural body. Notably, the process was initiated by a public campaign triggering the legislative procedure. As legal scholars, we fear that this move, although it constitutes a strong expression of ecological awareness, will not solve the lagoon’s serious environmental deterioration.

14. Oktober 2022

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The Los Cedros Forest has Rights

Last week, the Ecuadorian Constitutional Court published its judgment in the case of the Los Cedros forest, a protected cloud forest of great biodiversity in the Andean mountains of Ecuador. This judgment revokes environmental permits previously granted to two mining concessions in the Bosque Protector Los Cedros reserve. The Court ruled that the mining permits in question had not only violated several constitutional rights of communities in the area but also – most remarkably – the rights of mother nature (Pacha Mama). It specifically granted these rights to the Los Cedros Reserve. But there is still some uncertainty regarding future applications of this unusual, non-anthropocentric legal standard set by the Court to protect the rights of mother nature.

10. Dezember 2021

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Gibt Bayern der Natur Rechte?

„Gib der Natur Rechte!“, fordert ein Volksbegehren in Bayern, das natürliche Eigenrechte in die bayerische Landesverfassung aufnehmen möchte. Bayern wäre mit solchen Rechten nicht allein, denn in den letzten Jahren haben zahlreiche Rechtsordnungen Rechte der Natur anerkannt. Für die dringenden ökologischen Fragestellungen unserer Zeit können sich Rechte der Natur als eine wertvolle Chance erweisen.

10. September 2021

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