Executive Summary

• Author: Environmental Law Institute
• Pages: 7-8

Executive Summary

The Constitution is above everything. It is the fundamental law which

guarantees individual and collective rights and liberties, protects the

principle of people’s free choice and confers legitimacy to the exercise

of powers. It allows the assurance of legal protection and control of the

actions of the public authorities in a society wherein prevails the law

and man’s progress in all its dimensions ....

—Preamble, Constitution of Algeria (1996)

Constitutional provisions offer broad and powerful tools for protecting

the environment, but to date these tools have gone largely underutilized

in Africa. Practically all constitutions of African states include substan-

tive provisions that ensure either a “right to a healthy environment” or a

“right to life,” which often is held to imply a right to a healthy environ-

ment in which to live that life. Opening courts to citizens to enforce their

constitutional rights strengthens the judiciary, empowers civil society,

and fosters an atmosphere of environmental accountability.

This publication explores how constitutional provisions of African

states can be used to create real, enforceable environmental rights. Afri-

can states have varying legal traditions; namely, common law, civil law,

and Islamic law, as well as some hybrid systems. Nevertheless, these le-

gal systems share many common underlying principles and values, par-

ticularly fundamental human rights that are embodied in their respec-

tive constitutions.

This publication highlights relevant provisions from the constitu-

tions of 52 African countries (excluding the territories of the Canary Is-

lands, the Madeira Islands, Reunion, Somaliland, and Western Sa-

hara)—namely,those provisions that may be used to protect the environ-

ment—as well as cases from around the world that illustrate opportuni-

ties for implementing constitutional environmental rights. Additionally,

given the recently concluded, ongoing, and proposed constitutional re-

forms in various African countries—such as Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Le-

one, Sudan, and Swaziland—this publication examines the opportunities

that such provisions present for improving environmental governance,

addressing issues of environmental and participatory rights, and ensur-

ing implementation and enforcement.

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