CONSTITUȚIONALIZAREA DREPTULUI MEDIULUI ÎN ROMÂNIA. EVOLUȚIA REGLEMENTĂRILOR, CONTRIBUȚIA JURISPRUDENȚEI ȘI REACȚIA DOCTRINEI

Under the impulse of the ecoclimatic realities and of the evolutions of the international law, the great majority of the constitutions of the world states have incorporated, starting from 1970, environmental provisions and have recognized the right to the environment as a new fundamental right. The relevant case law and doctrine have contributed to explaining the meanings and dynamization of the progress of the constitutional provisions in the matter, as well as the assertion of the environmental protection as a constitutionally protected value.
The constitutionalization of the environmental law in Romania, which began by introducing in the Constitution of 8 December 1991 the first provisions concerning the environment, continued by the revision from 2003 (which established the right of every person to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment) and it was developed by means of a relatively consistent case law which revealed concrete dimensions of the environmental law, its relations with the other funda mental rights and its constitutional-legislative guarantees. At the same time, the legislation has taken over and developed the constitutional provisions, giving them concreteness and practical efficacy. The evolutions of the constitutionalization of the environment in terms of positive law involved a theoretical analysis and superior understanding and thus have led to the formation of a new scientific legal discipline, respectively constitutional law of the environment. After its recognition, first in common law countries (U.S.A., Canada, 2012), then in some continental law countries as well (France, 2021), the new discipline is considered as being about to be born and acquire the academic recognition it deserves also in Romania.