Anita Boros, Gyula Koi (eds): Sustainability and Law
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3. Legal and administrative theoretical foundations of sustainability and environmental protection (László Vértesy)
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3.2. Positive law
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3.2.1. Public law: constitutional and administrative law

3.2.1. Public law: constitutional and administrative law

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Most constitutions include principles that aim at sustainability, and most countries are also implementing constitutional reforms to give climate issues, sustainability, and environmental protection a more prominent place among constitutional rights and obligations.1 Based on intergenerational justice, the present generation is entitled to consider its own interests and is obliged to ensure a sustainable life for future generations, and the next generation(s) have the right to do so. This idea is expressed in the protection of natural resources, environmental protection, and long-term economic planning. Social solidarity means fair distribution, with reducing social inequalities and strengthening social cohesion all contributing to sustainable development. Human rights include the right to a healthy environment, decent work, and privacy. A healthy and clean environment is a fundamental condition for the right to human dignity. State responsibility is manifested in the state’s ability to promote sustainable development, which includes creating and implementing environmental legislation, sustainable management of natural resources, and international cooperation. The state’s responsibility for environmental pollution cannot be based solely on active behaviour since behaviour that endangers the environment can also take the form of action or omission.2

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As one of the most important branches of public law, administrative law is directly involved in implementing sustainability goals. The primary goal of administrative law is to protect the public interest,3 and the task of administrative bodies is to protect natural resources, minimize environmental impacts, and ensure social justice, whether at the central or local (self-)government level.4 Within the framework of administrative law, the enforcement of sustainability principles also appears in the areas of (i) regulation, legislation, (ii) administrative decision-making, procedure, and implementation, (iii) control and supervision, (iv) support. In its regulatory role, administrative law defines provisions in many areas that directly or indirectly affect sustainability. Such areas include environmental protection, regional development, waste management, energy efficiency, transport, and water resource management. In the primarily official application of law, administrative bodies deal with licensing many activities that impact the environment. During such procedures, authorities must also take sustainability aspects into account. Public administrations are also responsible for monitoring compliance with legislation. This is particularly important in the case of environmental legislation, as strict monitoring is required to prevent environmental damage. Public administrations operate several support programmes that support sustainable development. These include environmental tenders, support for renewable energy sources, or energy efficiency programmes.

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Within administrative law, environmental protection and nature conservation law are among the most important elements of the legal framework for sustainability goals. These aim to protect natural resources, preserve biodiversity, and prevent pollution.5 Environmental law aims to strengthen the harmonious relationship between man and his environment to ensure a high level of coordinated protection of the environment as a whole and its elements and processes to ensure sustainable development. Another important question is how to ensure the enforcement of legal regulations while also safeguarding economic interests.

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In order to clarify the conceptual boundaries, we only briefly refer to the fact that the environment consist of the environmental elements (land, air, water, wildlife, and the built-in – artificial – environment created by man), as well as their components. Natural value is a natural resource, and wildlife and its inanimate environment are necessary for its survival, as well as other environmental elements that do not qualify as natural resources. Natural resources include environmental elements or their individual components that can be used to satisfy social needs – with the exception of the artificial environment.
 
1

Groppi, T. (2023). ‘Sustainability and Constitutions: Constitutional Law and the Dilemma of the Future.’ Wroclaw Review of Law, Administration & Economics, 13(1) 44-55. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/wrlae-2022-0022 (accessed: 28 October 2024).Jakab, A. (2021). ‘An Emerging Key Concept in European Constitutional Law: Sustainability.’ Hungarian Journal of Legal Studies, 60(4)332-365. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/2052.2019.00020;

Jakab, A. (2016). ‘Sustainability in European constitutional law.’ Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law & International Law (MPIL) Research Paper, No. 2016-16 URL: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2803304

2 Hungarian Curia [the Supreme Court] Decision BH 2022. 252. (Curia Kpk.IV.39.445/2022/3.).
3 Koi, G. (2005). Lehetséges értelmezési tartományok a közérdek köréből. [Possible range of interpretation from the public interest]. Állam- és Jogtudomány, 46(1-2) 77-106.
4

Marques, I. et al. (2021). Public administration and values oriented to sustainability: A systematic approach to the literature. Sustainability, 13(5) 2566. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13052566;

Zeemering, E. S. (2021). Sustainability management, strategy and reform in local government, In: Boyd, M.N., Martin, E. C. (eds.). Sustainable Public Management. (London:Routledge). 141-158. eBook ISBN: 9781003202479 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003202479

Trondal, J. (2021). Public administration sustainability and its organisational basis. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 87(2) 399-415. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852319869430;

Fiorino, D. J. (2010). ‘Sustainability as a conceptual focus for public administration.’ Public Administration Reviews,70(12) (Spec. 1.) 78-88. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2010.02249.x

5

Mehta, R. (2024). Environmental Law and Sustainability: Legal Approaches to Addressing Climate Change and Protect Natural Resources. Indian Journal of Law, 2(3)21-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.36676/ijl.v2.i3.29; Gillespie, A. (2018). The long road to sustainability: The past, present, and future of international environmental law and policy. (Oxford:Oxford University Press) 280. Print ISBN:  

9780198819516 Online ISBN: 9780191859960 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198819516.001.0001; Lazarus, R. J. (2023). The making of environmental law. (Chicago:University of Chicago Press) 440. Print ISBN 9780226469720, 9780226470375 e-Book ISBN 9780226470641 Second edition.

; Bodansky, D., Assert, H. (2024). The art and craft of international environmental law. (Oxford:Oxford University Press) 380. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197672365.001.0001 Print ISBN: 9780197672365 Online ISBN: 9780197672402 Second edition; Wood, S., Richardson, B. J. eds. (2006). Environmental law for sustainability. A reader. (Oxford:Hart Publishing) ix, 487. ISBN: 1841135445 (ISBN10). .

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