Constitutional Protection of the Right to the Environment: An Analytical Study in Light of the Vision of the Algerian Constitutional Founder
Dr Hassina Ghouas
Lecturer, Division A, Faculty of Law
University of August 20, 1955
Skikda, Algeria
Abstract:
This study addresses the constitutional protection of the right to the environment, according to the vision of the Algerian constitutional founder. It aims to understand the issue of the right to the environment and reveal its place in the constitutional structure, by examining what has been stated in the successive constitutions that Algeria has known since independence, up to the latest constitutional amendment of 2020.
This study addressed the jurisprudential foundation of the right to the environment, by addressing its concept and characteristics, and the main motives for its dedication within the Algerian constitutional approach, and how recognition of this right moved from implicit to explicit. In the first part of the study, the constitutional guarantees for its protection and implementation on the ground are addressed in the second part, with a presentation of the role of the three authorities (the legislative authority, the executive authority, and the judicial authority) in activating these guarantees. The researcher adopted a descriptive and analytical approach, based on an analysis of constitutional texts, while utilizing a comparative approach when examining the position of some Western and Arab constitutions on the right to the environment.
The study concluded that the right to the environment has risen to the level of constitutionally guaranteed rights, despite the delay in this regard until the issuance of the constitutional amendment of 2016, while the same right was reaffirmed by the 2020 constitutional amendment, in more detail, and a constitutional advisory body was established in the environmental field, and individuals were empowered to resort to the Constitutional Court to defend this right, the guarantees for implementing this right remain incomplete, as there is a lack of environmental disputes due to the lack of awareness of environmental rights. Accordingly, the study recommends developing Algerian environmental law in accordance with constitutional developments, while expanding the scope of the unconstitutionality appeal mechanism by directly notifying the Constitutional Court.
Keywords: environment, constitution, guarantees, constitutional dedication, precautionary principle, polluter pays principle.