Exposition on the Stance of the Judiciary on Environmental Constitutionalism: Evidence from India and Nigeria
Keywords:
Environmental constitutionalism, human rights, Nigeria, IndiaAbstract
In few decades, environmental constitutionalism rapidly gained prominence at national, subnational and international levels. Various international instruments have been put in active places and national governments are seeking to expedite environmental protection activities including the enactment of environmental protection laws alongside the insertion of the valuable provisions in their national constitutions to address environmental issues. It is pertinent to note that, most scholars that religiously work on environmental constitutionalism tend to focus on literal constitutional provisions protecting the essential substantive and procedural citizens' rights to a safe and healthy environment, "what might be termed fundamental environmental constitutionalism." The outpouring interest among international scholars of legal disciplines in "constitutionalism" characterizes one of numerous determinations to re-hypothesize international governance and to draw attention and add credence to the global environmental law. By exploring the extent to which international environmental law has constitutional dimensions in India and Nigeria, this study adopts the expository research design to evaluate the degree to which the courts in the two countries are able to substantiate environmental rights as human rights. It concludes that, despite the fact that the international treaties on environmental rights have gained constitutional supports and recognitions in many countries, international environmental law in its entirety is deficient in guaranteeing a constitutional order. Hence, further research should be conducted into the perceived gaps and available options that should be adopted as solutions that will clearly continue to expand the conversation of environmental constitutionalism in India and Nigeria.
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