Environmental Dignity Rights Dignity Rights and Environmental Justice: A Symposium April 13, 2018 Erin Daly Professor of Law edaly@widener.edu

Dignity rights in constitutions

Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice, and peace in the world… UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1948), Preamble

Human dignity shall be inviolable Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority. Germany, 1949 Art. 1

The purpose of recognising and protecting human rights and fundamental freedoms is to preserve the dignity of individuals and communities and to promote social justice and the realisation of the potential of all human beings. Kenya 2010 , Art. 19

Every person shall have the right to live with a dignity… Nepal, 2006, Art. 12

Everyone has the right to lead a life in keeping with human dignity. Belgium 1831, 2012 Art. 23

The dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable. Pakistan , 1973, 2002, 2012, Art. 14

The defense of the human person and respect for his dignity are the supreme purpose of the society and the State. Peru, 1993, 2009, Art. 1

b. Non-racialism and non-sexism. The Republic of South Africa is one, sovereign, democratic state founded on the following values- a. Human dignity, the achievement of equality and the advancement of human rights and freedoms. b. Non-racialism and non-sexism. c. Supremacy of the constitution and the rule of law. d. Universal adult suffrage…. South Africa, 1996 Article I

United States, 1789, 1791, 1992

Dignity Jurisprudence

Y es que el contenido de la expresión “dignidad humana » … la Sala ha identificado a lo largo de la jurisprudencia de la Corte, tres lineamientos claros y diferenciables: (i) La dignidad humana entendida como autonomía o como posibilidad de diseñar un plan vital y de determinarse según sus características (vivir como quiera ). (ii) La dignidad humana entendida como ciertas condiciones materiales concretas de existencia (vivir bien). Y (iii) la dignidad humana entendida como intangibilidad de los bienes no patrimoniales, integridad física e integridad moral (vivir sin humillaciones). Sentencia T‑088/08 at 3.5.5 (Constitutional Court of Colombia):

The Court has identified 3 clear and differentiated lines contained in the expression « human dignity »: (i) human dignity understood as autonomy or as the possibility of designing a life plan … (living as one wishes) (ii) human dignity understood as certain material conditions (living well), and (iii) human dignity understood as intangible goods, i.e. physical and moral integrity (living without humiliation) Sentencia T‑088/08 at 3.5.5 (Constitutional Court of Colombia):

Environmental Dignity Rights in the Courts

Asghar Leghari v. Pakistan, (Lahore High Court, Pakistan 2018). Climate Justice and Water Justice go hand in hand and are rooted in articles 9 (right to life) and 14 (right to dignity) of our Constitution and stand firmly on our preambluar constitutional values of social and economic justice. Asghar Leghari v. Pakistan, (Lahore High Court, Pakistan 2018).

It should be understood that all rights necessary for living a dignified life as a human being are included in [the right to dignity.] Not only that, it cannot be imagined to live with dignity in a polluted environment… Pro Public v Godavari Marble Industries Pvt. Ltd. and Others (Supreme Court of Nepal 2015)

That the constitutional guarantee of right to life and dignity of the human person available to [plaintiffs] as citizens of Nigeria includes the right to a clean, poison-free and pollution-free air and healthy environment conducive for human beings to reside in for our development and full enjoyment of life… Gbemre v Shell Petroleum Development Co. (Federal High Court, Nigeria 2005)

A right to an environment that is consistent with the human dignity and well-being of citizens at large is an essential condition for the fulfilment of all human rights. It is an indispensable existential right that is enjoyed universally, yet which is vested personally as a right that presents and can be seen always to have presented, and to enjoy protection. Friends of the Irish Environment v Fingal City Council (Irish High Court, 2017)

It is not so Utopian a right that it can never be enforced It is not so Utopian a right that it can never be enforced. Once concretised into specific duties and obligations, its enforcement is entirely practicable. … But to start down that path of definition and demarcation, one first has to recognise that there is a personal constitutional right to an environment that is consistent with the human dignity and well-being of citizens at large and upon which those duties and responsibilities will be constructed. This the court does. Friends of the Irish Environment v Fingal City Council (Irish High Court, 2017)

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