At the French Constitutional Council, Chief Justice of Brazil's Supreme Court Participates in International Conference on Future Generations

07/02/2024

The Chief Justice of Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF), Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, participated in the first international meeting convened to discuss the concept of future generations, which is increasingly used in environmental litigation. The event took place on Wednesday (7th) in Paris (France) and gathered chief justices from Supreme Courts around the world - such as Germany, Canada, Spain, France, Kenya, and Portugal - to debate the role of the Judiciary in climate change and sustainable development.

About one hundred chief justices and judges from national Supreme Courts, Regional Courts, and International Jurisdictions attended the meeting, which was organized by the Constitutional Council in partnership with the country's Institute for Legal Studies and Research. They shared their experiences and examined in depth the scope of the concept.

The discussions and conclusions of the International Conference on Future Generations and Sustainable Development are expected to contribute to the preparation of the "Declaration on Future Generations," to be discussed at the Future Summit, organized by the Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, in New York (United States), in September this year.

The meeting marks a stage in the international dialogue among judges in building justice for future generations. Three particular themes will be addressed: "Access to courts for the defense of future generations"; "The foundations of protection for future generations"; and "The implementation of judicial decisions relating to future generations."

Roundtable Discussion
Justice Barroso participated in the first roundtable discussion, which focused on access to justice for young and future generations to ensure their rights. The aim was to assess the effectiveness of access to courts in addressing these issues from a comparative perspective.

Three particular topics were discussed. The first was the court's competence to judge actions brought in the interest of future generations, especially the legitimacy of the judge to examine claims in a legal field that borders the political field. For this, it will be necessary to determine which judges have jurisdiction, given the nature of the disputes and their location, depending on the systems and legal areas involved (whether regional or international).

The second topic concerns the interest in acting in the field of environmental justice, and the third, the relationship between national and supranational legal proceedings.

Barroso presented the legal bases to ensure access to justice for young and future generations, as well as recent decisions by the Brazilian judiciary in environmental matters and climate change. He also mentioned the Brazilian legal provisions related to the matter.

In addition to the Chief Justice of the STF, the roundtable discussion featured the President of the European Court of Human Rights, Siofra O'Leary; the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada, Richard Wagner; the Vice President of Environment of the Supreme People's Court of China, Linping Yang; and the judge of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, Daniela Salazar Marin, as the moderator of the debates.

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