Thoughts on the principle of ne bis in idem in the light of administrative and criminal sanctions for the legal protection of animals

According to the well-developed interpretation of the principle of the ne bis in idem in the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights, the same conduct cannot be the subject of two proceedings or santions with similar functions and purposes. In Hungary the Constitutional Court has interpreted the rules of the ne bis in idem in administrative and criminal procedure for animal welfare fine and sanctions for cruelty to animals in Decision 8/2017. (IV.18) AB and the legislator settled its rules in Act on administrative sanctions which came into effect from the 1st of January, 2021. The recent study through practical issues approaches how principle prevails, its problems and possible solutions in the field of unlawful conduct in animal welfare, in particular regarding the role of the prosecutor.

Constitutional protection of the environment with particular regard to the Hungarian, German, Italian and Belgian constitutional regulation

Environmental protection has become a burning issue which plays a more and more important role in the world. The aim of this study is to give a picture of the constitutional regulation of environmental protection which is the highest legal source of a nation. Besides the Hungarian Fundamental Law, the German, Italian and Belgian constitutions were examined in the study. On one hand, we looked into how environment is regulated in the constitutions, as a right (right to environment) or a state task or objective (protect the environment). On the other hand, we analysed how related regulatory subjects appear in the constitutions, such as natural resources, future generations and sustainable development.

Right to a Healthy Environment and Legal Regulation of Viticulture

The foundations for the introduction and development of the modern right to a healthy environment were laid almost half a century ago, by adoption of the Declaration on the Human Environment at the United Nations thematic Conference on the Human Environment, held in Stockholm in 1972. The gathering was preceded by extensive preparations in which members of the academic community and people from politics participated equally. Scientists have obviously prepared a good basis for considering key issues, and representatives of member states and UN bodies have given it an appropriate political dimension. Thanks to that, reasonable, necessary compromises were made, which made it possible to establish a (fragile) balance of interests in the then polarized world and to start a process of great importance for humanity with a lot of optimism. Unfortunately, relatively little has been done on global level since then. This is evidenced by the terminological inconsistency and conceptual uncertainty of the right to a healthy environment, unclear legal nature, dominant development and expansion through constitutionalization at the national level (not on the basis of international instruments), as well as indirect application through the so-called greening of other human rights. The United Nations Human Rights Council, which in October 2021 adopted a Resolution on a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment by which the right to a healthy environment was raised to the level of human rights, officially assessed that many questions about the relationship of human rights and the environment remain unanswered and require further examination. This paper opens several interrelated topics whose consideration can contribute to the further development of the right to a healthy environment. The author believes that over time there will be an interaction between the right to a healthy environment and property rights; that this will pave the way for a more extensive interpretation that could result in an individual's autonomous right to independently shape a healthy environment in the space person uses as the owner or holder of another property right; that such interaction would enable the owner to more effectively counter unjustified restrictions on property rights established by state bodies or supranational institutions, such as those existing in the field of viticulture. The paper points out the need to rethink policies and rights related to agriculture and to pay more attention to the part of the population that contributes to the preservation of a healthy environment through their way of life and work. In the final part, winegrowers ’oases that represent specific spatial units are analyzed.

The approach of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia towards the protection of the right to a healthy environment

This paper analyzes provisions of the Croatian Constitution related to environmental protection, as well as their application in the case law of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Croatia. The main aim is to examine whether the Constitutional Court considers Croatian Constitution as prescribing the right to a healthy environment although it only explicitly prescribes the right to a healthy life. The paper shall also explore the Constitutional Court’s interpretation of other environmental provision that are enshrined in the Croatian Constitution. For the purposes of writing this paper, 94 decisions of the Constitutional Court containing the word ‘human environment’ were examined. However, the paper dealt in detail with only those decisions that explicitly referred to the application of environmental provisions of the Constitution. The paper ends with conclusions which can be drawn from the case law of the Constitutional Court with an important observation that the conclusion concerning the constitutional protection of the right to a healthy environment in Croatia unfortunately cannot be deduced due to the extreme lack of cases in which applicants call for protection of this right in their constitutional complaints.

Constitutionalisation of Environmental Protection in Poland

This article aims, on the one hand, to analyse how the constitutionalisation of environmental protection in Poland has developed and, on the other hand, to review the currently adopted constitutional solutions regarding environmental protection. After briefly describing the term ‘constitutionalisation’, the author presents the constitutional development of Poland, with a special emphasis put on provisions regarding environmental protection. The detailed analysis of provisions is followed by the conclusions.

The Protection of the Interests of Future Generations in the 10-Year-Old Hungarian Constitution, With Special Reference to the Right to a Healthy Environment and Other Environmental Issues

The present study is inspired by the tenth anniversary of the new Hungarian Constitution, known under the name of Fundamental Law, which was adopted in 2011 and entered into force in 2012. In this study we analyse the ten-year old Fundamental Law and its constitutional practice with regard to the important challenges and tasks of the 21st century, namely how the protection of the interests of future generations and the environment are reflected in it. Particularly important elements of the study are (a) the institutional guarantees of the relevant provisions, such as the provisions relating to the Constitutional Court and the Advocate of Future Generations, (b) the concept of GMO-free agriculture in the Fundamental Law, (c) the theses of the Constitutional Court practice on the prohibition of retrogression and the precautionary principle, (d) new interpretative frameworks and possibilities arising from other values of the Fundamental Law, such as the provisions on Christian culture, (e) the open questions of interpretation of the Fundamental Law on waste and the environmental liability regime, (f) the priority protection of natural resources, which are the common heritage of the nation, and last but not least (g) the particularly forward-looking integration of the interests of future generations in the rules on public finances and national assets.

Environmental protection in the Constitution of the Czech Republic

This article aims to analyse the constitutional order of Czechia and the decision-making practice of the courts to define the legal means of environmental protection at the constitutional level. The aim is also to provide the reader with an essential insight into environmental protection in Czechia at the constitutional level so that the legal regulation and decision-making practice can be compared with other countries.

Current tendencies of the development of the right to a healthy environment in Hungary in the light of the practice of the Constitutional Court in recent years

In recent years, there have been several Constitutional Court decisions dealing with the right to a healthy environment and its interpretation. In these decisions, the Constitutional Court has further developed and partially renewed the content of the right to a healthy environment and its interpretation, which was necessary and justified following the adoption of the Fundamental Law of Hungary, and especially following its fourth amendment. Accordingly, the present study reviews the recent changes in the content and interpretation of the right to a healthy environment and the new tendencies that can be observed in this context by analysing the practice of the Constitutional Court of Hungary.

The "Environmental Lawsuit" as an Instrument of Preventive Protection of the Constitutional Right to Healthy Environment in the Law of the Republic of Serbia

A lot of attention has been paid to the environment and its protection in Serbian legislation. The right to healthy environment is guaranteed by the Constitution, and in the last two decades numerous laws have been passed regulating various aspects of the environment in order to ensure its protection. The subject of the paper is the claim to eliminate the danger of damage, stipulated by the Law on Obligations from 1978. From the enactment of the law, this legal institution has been considered as a means suitable for providing preventive environmental protection, which is why it is often called an “environmental lawsuit” in Serbian legal theory.

Acquisition of Agricultural Land by Foreigners and Family Agricultural Holdings in Croatia

This paper presents two important aspects of the structural transformation of the agricultural sector of the Republic of Croatia. First, there is an analysis of the legal regulation of the acquisition of agricultural land by foreigners by which Croatia has aligned its rules on the acquisition of real property with EU law. In particular, attention is drawn to the differences in the legal position of foreigners depending on whether they are nationals or legal persons of EU Member States or from third countries, as well as on the grounds on which they acquire agricultural land in Croatia. Second, the author points to the new regulation of family agricultural holdings of 2018 (Family Agricultural Holdings Act) and highlights the importance of the separate regulation of family agricultural holdings for the development of Croatian agriculture, particularly with regard to the existing structure of agricultural holdings and the structure of the farm labour force.