Constitutional Framework For The Protection Of Future Generations And The Environment In The Czech Republic

Constitutional Framework For The Protection Of Future Generations And The Environment In The Czech Republic Presented by: Dr. Radvan Date: 29 August 2024 Specific Constitutional Regulation - - Constitutional Order (Constitution sensu lato) • Constitution of the Czech Republic (Constitution sensu stricto) • Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms Constitution: the state shall concern itself with the prudent use of its natural resources and the protection of its natural wealth - Charter: fundamental rights and basic freedoms, including the rights and freedoms connected with the environment regulation is relatively brief, and many articles must be explained using regular acts - Constitutional Court: presents the key to interpreting individual rights and freedoms; its decision-making practice is essential for protecting the environment from the position of both the addressees of rights and obligations and the executors of public authority Con Court Case Law - The environment is a public good (value) - Environmental issues have political and scientific aspects - The right to a favorable environment could not prohibit all activities having a negative impact on the environment; it is necessary to consider both environmental protection and other (business) values, respecting the level of human knowledge, the situation in society, international obligations, and the results of the national economy - Czech Constitutional Court is the court of law administering justice on the basis of legislation and very often also of previous court decisions - Decisions are broadly respected Ombudsman - Public Defender of Rights - Not mentioned in the Constitution - May initiate proceedings on review of a decision, act, or procedure of the authority - Performs acts to eliminate inactivity - Initiates disciplinary or similar proceedings - Initiates prosecution for a criminal offense, infraction, or some other administrative offense - Authorized to recommend that a legal or internal regulation be issued, amended, or canceled - The right to make a complaint to protect the public interest if he/she proves a compelling reason for the submission in the public interest Environmental Rights - President Václav Havel believed that the Constitution should not lack an ecological article. He is considered the spiritual author of Art. 7 of the Constitution, declaring that the state shall concern itself with the prudent use of its natural resources and the protection of its natural wealth. - Karel Vašák, a Czech-French lawyer and university professor and the first director of the International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg, ranked the right to a favorable environment among the third generation of human rights in 1979. - The Charter includes all right necessary for effective protection of the environment, incl. the right to a favorable environment, the right to health, the right to life, etc. - The general right to information and the special right to timely and complete information about the state of the environment and natural resources are one of the legal guarantees of legality in public administration, as access to environmental information is a prerequisite for effective public participation in environmental protection. De Lege Ferenda Proposals Unborn Generations - De lege lata constitutional regulation explicitly deals only with already born children and their protection - It is clear from the sense of the Constitutional Order and from the regular acts concerning environmental protection that the unborn generation is also under the protection - It would be reasonable to change the wording of the constitutional regulation and specify the responsibility towards future generations, especially towards unborn generations Drinking Water - The amount of decimal precipitation is decreasing, and not only drinking water is at risk - Water seems to be the most important natural resource - Amendments at the constitutional level introducing the right to drinking water must be followed by the amendments of the related acts to specify the detailed manner and extent of securing this right - An obligation of individual municipalities to ensure access to drinking water for their inhabitants: the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of this system must be further addressed, particularly in relation to the existing water supply infrastructure and its operators - Why protect specifically on the constitutional level only (drinking) water and not soil, air, forests, or other environmental components? Sources For Environmental Protection - Financial sustainability and adequate financial sources are condition sine qua non for effective environmental protection - New principles at the constitutional level • Principle of financial participation in public goods: everyone shall contribute to covering common needs according to his/her capabilities or shall comply with his/her responsibilities and public duties, incl. The payment of taxes • Principle of a reduced contribution for raising children: limiting the extent of contribution for persons raising children by taking into consideration the costs of raising children • Principle of ability to pay: the tax or any other public payment must not be of a liquidating nature / must not have a choking effect what is secured by corrective components such as exemptions, relieves, etc. Or deferral and waiver of the tax by administrative means • Polluter pays principle: pay-as-you-throw principle, applicable for many environmental taxes and charges, especially for communal waste charges Amendment to the Linear Constructions Act - Regulates the procedures for preparing and permitting the construction of transport, water and energy infrastructure, and electronic communications infrastructure, for acquiring rights to land and buildings necessary for the implementation of these constructions and for putting these constructions into use in order to speed up their property-law preparation, permitting and subsequent judicial review of administrative decisions in connection with these constructions - Also regulates the exercise of state administration and the procedure for permitting projects of common interest - Different approaches of individual construction offices - Very often, the ecological reasons are misused to disproportionately extend the construction preparation time - Necessary to: • To establish the supreme construction office as a central authority • To limit the possibilities of "wannabe environmental activists" to bring various appeals, remedies, and actions • Related environmental protection must always be secured!!!