인간중심적 환경헌법에서 생태중심적 환경헌법으로 : 라틴아메리카 국가들의 기여

The purpose of this study is to show that Latin American countries are making a significant contribution to the theory and practice of rights of nature and ecocentric environmental constitutions, which are receiving great attention in international society. Latin American countries are stipulating environmental rights from the ecocentric contexts through the enactment and amendment of their constitutions. The ecocentric environmental constitution is different from the existing anthropocentric environmental constitution. First, from a holistic view of nature and the environment, human beings are also part of nature, giving them the responsibility to protect nature and the environment, and recognizing the legal personality in which nature can exercise its rights. By placing humans and nature in an equal and harmonious relationship, a healthy environment was re-examined from the perspective of human rights. Although the ecocentric environmental constitution is just the beginning, it has tremendous power to change the fundamental paradigm of the legal system in the not-too-distant future. Latin American countries recognize the rights of nature in their constitutions or laws, suggesting the content and direction of the eco-centered environmental constitution, that they recognize the rights of nature through judicial activism like the Colombian court, and that the amparo litigation, actio popularis, and habeas corpus, which are effective and expeditious constitutional litigation for basic rights, have been developed, demonstrating that they are functioning relatively well in environmental litigation related to rights of nature. The experiences of Latin American countries can be seen as a significant contribution to transforming the legal relationship between humans and nature from human-centered to eco-centered.