A Rose by Any Other Name? Explaining the Absence of Constitutional Environmental Rights in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Why do some countries adopt constitutional environmental rights while other do not? The results of a large-N survival analysis indicate that the likelihood that a country adopts a constitutional environmental right is related to at least five factors — GDP per capita, international civil society influence, level of democracy, population density, and protection of civil liberties. However, in order to reveal factors not captured by quantitative techniques and better understand the specific causal mechanisms, a more granular approach to understanding the phenomenon is needed. Therefore, in this paper I offer an analysis of Sri Lanka, a most-likely case (based on the statistical model) which does not have constitutional environmental rights. Through a qualitative content analysis of seven interviews conducted in Colombo and evidence from scholarly literature, I find that constitutional environmental rights were not included in any of Sri Lanka’s governing charters mainly due to the existing capacity of domestic law and policy to address environmental issues, politicization of the constitutional reform process, and the emphasis placed on certain controversies during the drafting of a new constitution. This research provides important insights into constitutional design and how international norms translate into domestic contexts.