The Protection of the Interests of Future Generations in the 10-Year-Old Hungarian Constitution, With Special Reference to the Right to a Healthy Environment and Other Environmental Issues

Abstract

The present study is inspired by the tenth anniversary of the new Hungarian Constitution, known under the name of Fundamental Law, which was adopted in 2011 and entered into force in 2012. In this study we analyse the ten-year old Fundamental Law and its constitutional practice with regard to the important challenges and tasks of the 21st century, namely how the protection of the interests of future generations and the environment are reflected in it. Particularly important elements of the study are (a) the institutional guarantees of the relevant provisions, such as the provisions relating to the Constitutional Court and the Advocate of Future Generations, (b) the concept of GMO-free agriculture in the Fundamental Law, (c) the theses of the Constitutional Court practice on the prohibition of retrogression and the precautionary principle, (d) new interpretative frameworks and possibilities arising from other values of the Fundamental Law, such as the provisions on Christian culture, (e) the open questions of interpretation of the Fundamental Law on waste and the environmental liability regime, (f) the priority protection of natural resources, which are the common heritage of the nation, and last but not least (g) the particularly forward-looking integration of the interests of future generations in the rules on public finances and national assets.