THE ‘’GREEN’’ CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF CROATIA AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURT AS A PROTECTOR OF THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

Abstract

Unlike the “pioneer” constitutions, which contained guarantees of personal and political rights in their provisions, newer constitutions, or constitutions of the 20th century, began to guarantee social and economic rights in their provisions, and among them soon appeared the right to a healthy environment. Similar to the constitutions of other new democracies, the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia belongs to the ranks of environmentally conscious constitutions. The right to a healthy environment was part of the Constitution of the Socialist Republic of Croatia from 1974, and after the establishment of the independent and sovereign Republic of Croatia, it became part of the Constitution of 1990. In Croatia, since the very beginning of independence, the conservation of nature and the human environment have been included in the category of the highest values of the constitutional order (Article 3), which represent the foundation for the interpretation of the Constitution. In the part of the Constitution that refers to human rights and fundamental freedoms, we find provisions on restrictions of entrepreneurial freedom and property rights in order to protect nature, the environment and human health, then on special protection of the state to all things and goods of special ecological significance. It is also clearly prescribed that everyone has the right to a healthy life, and that the state has a certain responsibility for environmental protection. The Constitutional Court takes care of the protection of constitutionality and the protection of environmental rights. The aim of this paper is to analyze how the constitutions of the new democracies relate to environmental protection, whether the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia is really a “green” Constitution, and based on the analysis of the previous practice of the Constitutional Court in environmental cases, reach a conclusion about the approach and the role of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia as a protector of the right to healthy environment.