Nature's Rights in Ecuadorian Courts

Abstract

The recognition of the Nature's rights has stirred up all kinds of reactions in the legal world, whether it be for or against them, which is expected with such an innovative concept, which affects the anthropocentric root with which the law is created and functions. Beyond the theoretical proposals that are reviewed as the conceptual framework of this study, we intend to analyze the rights of nature as a judicial practice, where we find a constant confusion that follows from the apparent relationship between environmental law and the rights of nature, which cause the loss of the essence or vocation of the latter, which are biocentric and ecocentric. To demonstrate this assertion, the study of the case called Manglar Mataje Cayapas resolved by the Constitutional Court of Ecuador was carried out, taking into account the following variables: relevance of the case, subject of protection, the whole of nature and the legal asset protected from environmental law, elements that are univocally and non-differentially stated by the judges who decide the cases of the rights of nature, which upholds the argument that it is not possible for the makers of the judicial decision to leave the matrix based on the human being , the property and the environment. Finally, as a whole, the article seeks to clear up the confusion and contribute with criteria so that these cases are decided from and for nature.

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