The understanding of nature, the jurisprudence of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador and the systemic theory of law

Authors

  • Ramiro Ávila Santamaría

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18042/cepc/rep.204.09

Abstract

Ecuador’s 2008 Constitution, for the first time in global constitutionalism, has recognized that nature is a subject and has specific rights. The application of these rights has taken time and has been slow. This situation is explained, in part, by a legal culture that considers nature as private property, by the absence of a legal theory that makes the Law of humans compatible with the Law of nature, and by the lack of dialogue between Law and other disciplines that study nature. Law that recognizes that nature has life, which must be respected and understood from other disciplines could be called «The Systemic Theory of Law». With a systemic view, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador has been able to develop the content and scope of the rights of nature in cases related to mangroves, forests, rivers, wild animals. We are in the middle of environmental crisis and climate change, recognizing that nature has rights is a way to radically change the dominant legal and political paradigm to protect and restore nature.

Published

2024-06-20

Issue

Section

MONOGRAPH