Environmental Duties and Liability in the Constitution of Slovakia

Absztrakt

The article addresses the constitutional protection of the environment in the Slovak Republic, focusing in particular on an analysis of Arts. 44 and 45 of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and their application in practice. From the perspective of Slovak legal doctrine, this constitutional framework is embedded in a broader development, whereby environmental law is increasingly regarded as a distinct and internally coherent branch of law within the national legal system. Attention is given to the obligations of the state, the obligations of the individual, constitutional liability, as well as to the issues of enforceability of these rights and obligations. The basis for the constitutional analysis lies in the constitutional and statutory regulation of the right to a favourable environment and the right to information on the environment, complemented by a systematic interpretation of the decision-making activity of the Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic in the context of the principles of the rule of law. The authors place special emphasis on addressing the constitutional dilemma concerning the nature, content and scope of the right to a favourable environment, as regulated and interpreted within the Slovak constitutional system, and its interconnection with other fundamental rights which determine its practical enforceability. The contribution further presents selected examples of good application practice and formulates “de constitutio ferenda” proposals aimed at strengthening the constitutional regulation of environmental protection as a fundamental element of an individual’s life within a modern society, with regard to the constitutional regulation of environmental obligations and liability.