Constituent Power, the Rights of Nature, and Universal Jurisdiction

Abstract

This article provides a justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction in cases of serious environmental damage. This justification rests in important ways on the theory of constituent power. The theory of constituent power has an intergenerational component that requires the protection of the environmental conditions that allow future generations to engage in constitution-making episodes. This article maintains that, by virtue of the connections between constituent power, the right to self-determination, and state sovereignty, the justification for the exercise of universal jurisdiction for serious environmental damage is at least as compelling as the justification for its exercise with respect to egregious human rights infringements. In those scenarios, courts exercising universal jurisdiction would be acting to protect the ability of present and future peoples to participate in the constitution and reconstitution of the states that make up the international community. Such a jurisdiction would rest on the authority of humanity as a whole rather than on that of any state or people.Cet article tente de justifier l’exercice de la juridiction universelle dans les cas de grave dommage à l’environnement. Cette justification se base de façons importantes sur la théorie du pouvoir constituant. Cette théorie comporte un élément intergénérationnel qui exige la protection des conditions environnementales qui permettraient aux générations à venir d’entreprendre à leur tour des épisodes de création de constitutions. Cet article soutient qu’en vertu des connexions entre le pouvoir constituant, le droit à l’autodétermination, et à la souveraineté de l’état, la justification de l’exercice de la juridiction universelle dans les cas de grave dommage à l’environnement est au moins aussi puissante que la justification de son exercice dans le contexte des violations flagrantes des droits humains. En exerçant la juridiction universelle dans ces scénarios, les tribunaux agiraient pour protéger la capacité des peuples actuels et futurs à participer à la constitution et à la reconstitution des états qui composent la communauté internationale. Une telle juridiction se fonderait sur l’autorité de l’humanité dans l’ensemble plutôt que sur l’autorité d’un état ou d’un peuple en particulier

Living in Harmony with Nature? A Critical Appraisal of the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia

“…The continuing existence of nature as we know it … is a necessary precondition for the future exercise of constituent power as well as any form of political action. 29 Therefore, even though the Bolivian Constitution does not constitutionalize the rights of Mother Earth, it recognizes at the highest constitutional level the importance of ecological integrity, which enables people to create a new future for themselves through a new constitutional framework: without the integrity of nature, a new constitutional democracy will be impossible. It might even be said that the Constitution recognizes ecological integrity as the basis of the Bolivian constitutional state, a position that mirrors the German theoretical notion of the ecological constitutional state (ökologische Verfassungsstaat).…”

Somewhere between Rhetoric and Reality: Environmental Constitutionalism and the Rights of Nature in Ecuador

“…Approved by 63% of the voters during a referendum in September 2008, the Constitution of Ecuador came into force in October 2008. 83 The new constitutional dispensation is aligned with the 'new constitutionalism in Latin America' paradigm, which recognizes the plurinational state as a model of 'legal equalitarian pluralism'. 84 It reconstitutes the political, economic, social and ecological foundations of Ecuadorian society by prioritizing and constitutionally solidifying key concerns of solidarity and equity between humans and between humans and nature, as well as propagating a new understanding of nature as a legal subject.…”

Yeni Anayasa Tartışmaları Etrafında Kurucu İktidar, Kurucu Meclis ve Referandum Kavramlarının Analizi

“…Bu kabulün yanında kurucu iktidarın ne katı bir durağanlık ne de sınırsız bir dönüşüm içerisinde olduğu, gerektiği durumlarda kurucu iktidarın kurma yetkisini kullanabileceği benimsenmektedir (Can 2007, s. 105-106). Daha net ve günümüz şartları ile ifade edersek, toplumun tamamını kapsayamasa da büyük bir çoğunluğunun 'istekleri' doğrultusunda ve geri kalanların lehine olmasa da aleyhine olmayan düzenlemelerin (bunlar yeni baştan kurmakla kısmen değiştirmeği de kapsayabilir) yerine getirilebilmesi için halkın temsilcileri, kurucu iktidarın verdiği yetkiyi referandum ve diğer demokratik müzakere yollarıyla birlikte kullanabilmelidirler (Colón-Ríos, 2014;2010, s. 235-236).…”