Iuris Dictio

Dossier II

No. 36 (2025)

Environmental Law in the Loyalty Islands: Questioning the Success of Legal Crossbreeding

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18272/iu.i36.3981
Submitted
July 24, 2025
Published
November 27, 2025

Abstract

The Loyalty Islands’ Environmental Code (New-Caledonia) seeks to merge French and Kanak views of nature. While Western naturalism separates humans and non-humans, Kanak animism sees continuity. Article 110-3 grants legal personality to natural elements, showing this ontological mix. However, France’s Council of State annulled key provisions, citing overreach into Caledonian civil law power. This reflects a clash between worldviews and highlights the limits of French environmental law in embracing alternative ontologies. The method used to carry out this study is combinatorial, combining the classic method of research in French law and a survey. The objective is to extract the essence of each vision by questioning the custodians of each.

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