The Subjective Right to Environment in the General Part of the Environmental Code Act

• Author: Kaarel Relve
• Pages: 32-42

32 JURIDICA INTERNATIONAL 24/2016

Kaarel Relve

LLM, Lecturer of Environmental Law

University of Tartu

The Subjective Right to

Environment in the General Part

of the Environmental Code Act

Human existence and quality of life depend on the environment. It is evident that everyone has an interest

in using the environment and protecting him- or herself from risks or harm to the environment. However, it

is not clear how this interest has to be guaranteed by rights. One possibility is the recognition of an indepen-

dent material enforceable subjective right to environment. In June 2010, the Supreme Court held that such

a right cannot be derived from the Constitution of the Republic of Estonia and can emerge only if criteria

for the quality of the environment and everyone’s obligation to tolerate environmental impacts can be f‌i xed

in the law. The General Part of the Environmental Code Act (GPECA)*1 entered into force on 1 August 2014,

and its §23 sets out a subjective right to environment. The purpose behind this paper is to examine the basis

for that right and analyse its scope and contents to determine whether it satisf‌i es the criteria outlined by

the Supreme Court.

1. The basis for the subjective

environmental right in the GPECA

1.1. The framework of international and EU law

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) does not feature a subjective environmental right and

does not emphasise the importance of a supportive environment for enjoyment of the rights enshrined in

the declaration. The environmental aspects of human rights are also not ref‌l ected in other classical human

rights instruments. At the time of their codif‌i cation, knowledge of environmental problems was limited and

other issues were at the centre of concern. For instance, the European Convention on Human Rights (1950)

was adopted as a response to the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany and the rise of communism.*2

Awareness of environmental issues rapidly increased in the decades following the Second World War.

This led to the adoption of the Stockholm Declaration (1972), whose f‌i rst principle stipulates: ‘Man has the

fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that

Қ Keskkonnaseadustiku üldosa seadus. – RT I, қҡ.қ.қҙҚҚ,Қ (in Estonian). English text available at https://www.riigiteataja.

ee/en/eli/ҞҚҠҙҟқҙҚҞҙҙҚ/consolide (most recently accessed on ҜҚ.Ҝ.қҙҚҟ).

қ S. Kravchenko, J.E. Bonine. Interpretation of human rights for the protection of the environment in the European Court of

Human Rights. – Pacif‌i c McGeorge Global Business & Development Law Journal қҙҚқ (қҞ) / Қ, p. қҝҡ.

http://dx.doi.org/10.12697/JI.2016.24.04