en
Studia Iuridica

STANDING WITHOUT LEGAL PERSONALITY: THE PROCEDURAL DIMENSION OF RIGHTS OF NATURE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

2025, 109, No. 1

Wiktoria Woźny

0009-0008-2217-1296

Warsaw University, Poland

DOI

10.31338/2544-3135.si.2025-109.8

Publication date

29.06.2026

Publishing model

open access

License type

CC BY 4.0 Int.

Field

law studies

Discipline

law

Language of publication

English

Downloads

PDF 365 KB

Article

Number of views:2

Number of downloads:5

Crossref citations:0

Altmetric score:0

Abstract

In the face of the deepening environmental crisis and the increasing threats to nature, the search for new legal mechanisms aimed at strengthening environmental protection within the legal order has intensified. One of the proposed approaches is to grant legal personality to elements of nature. Although the legal framework of the European Union does not expressly confer legal or procedural capacity upon nature, there exist theoretical grounds that allow for considering nature as a rights-bearing subject. This article explores the concept that rests upon the correlation between rights and duties, which constitutes the foundation of legal subjectivity. The main purpose is to examine the procedural dimension of obligations towards nature within European Union law by identifying the actors and legal instruments that enable action in the interest of nature. The analysis encompasses the means available both at the national and EU levels. Emphasis is placed on the role of non-governmental organisations active in the field of environmental protection. Furthermore, special consideration is also given to the existing limitations faced by members of the public in securing access to justice in environmental matters.

Keywords:

Bibliography

Berros MV, ‘Defending Rivers: Vilcabamba in the South of Ecuador’ (2017) 6 RCC Perspectives 37

Darpö J, ‘The Commission: a sheep in wolf’s clothing? On infringement proceedings as a legal device for the enforcement of EU law on the environment, using Swedish wolf management as an example’ (2016) 13 Journal for European Environmental and Planning 270

Darpö J, ‘Pulling the Trigger: ENGO Standing Rights and the Enforcement of Environmental Obligations in EU Law’ in S Bogojevic, R Rayfuse (eds), Environmental Rights in Europe and Beyond (Hart Publishing 2020) 253

Darpö J, ‘Can Nature Get It Right? A study on Rights of Nature in the European Context’ (European Parliament 2021)

Di Salvatore L, ‘Towards a European Charter of the Rights of Nature. Research Paper’ (The Institute of European Democrats 2019)

Ebbesson J (ed), The Aarhus Convention: An Implementation Guide (2nd edn, United Nations Publication 2014)

Epstein Y, Kempers EB, ‘Animals and Nature as Rights Holders in the European Union’ (2023) 86 The Modern Law Review 1336

Epstein Y, Schoukens H, ‘A positivist approach to rights of nature in the European Union’ (2021) 12 Journal of Human Rights and the Environment 205

Hohfeld WN, ‘Some Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning’ (1913) 23 YLJ 16

Iwańska B, ‘Zróżnicowanie i ograniczenia w dostępie do wymiaru sprawiedliwości w sprawach ochrony środowiska. Uwagi na tle implementacji konwencji z Aarhus w prawie unijnym’ [2020] Europejski Przegląd Sądowy 5

Jans JH, Vedder HHB, European Environmental Law. After Lisbon (4th edn, Europa Law Publishing 2012)

Jednrośka J, Bar M (eds), Procedural Environmental Rights: Principle X in Theory and Practice (Intersentia Publishing 2017)

Kramer MH, ‘Do Animals and Dead People Have Legal Rights?’ (2001) 14 Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence 29

Krämer L, ‘Comment on case C-240/09 Lesoochranárske zoskupenie VLK: Access to justice in environmental matters: new perspectives’ (2011) 8 JEEPL 392

Krämer L, ‘The Environment before the European Court of Justice’ in C Voigt (ed), International Judicial Practice on the Environment: Questions of Legitimacy (Cambridge University Press 2019)

Krämer L, Badger C, Krämer’s EU Environmental Law (9th edn, Hart Publishing 2024)

Kurki VAJ, A Theory of Legal Personhood (Oxford University Press 2019)

Lee M, EU Environmental Law, Governance and Decision-Making (2nd edn, Hart Publishing 2014)

Lenaerts K, Gutman K, Nowak JT, EU Procedural Law (2nd edn, Oxford European Union Law Library 2023)

Łazarska A, ‘Refleksje na temat czynników mrożących europejski dialog prejudycjalny’ [2020] Europejski Przegląd Sądowy 5

Łętowska E, ‘Dwa cywilnoprawne aspekty praw zwierząt: dereifikacja i personifikacja’ in A Szpunar and others (eds), Studia z prawa prywatnego: księga pamiątkowa ku czci Profesor Biruty Lewaszkiewicz-Petrykowskiej (Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego 1997)

Pyziak-Szafnicka M, ‘Prawo podmiotowe’ in M Safjan (ed), System prawa prywatnego. Prawo cywilne – część ogólna (Instytut Nauk Prawnych PAN 2007)

Rath K, ‘The EU Aarhus Regulation and EU Administrative Acts Based on the Aarhus Regulation: the Withdrawal of the CJEU from the Aarhus Convention’ in C Voigt (ed), International Judicial Practice on the Environment: Questions of Legitimacy (Cambridge University Press 2019)

Schoukens H, ‘Access to Justice before EU Courts in Environmental Cases against the Backdrop of the Aarhus Convention: Balancing Pathological Stubbornness and Cognitive Dissonance?’ in C Voigt (ed), International Judicial Practice on the Environment: Questions of Legitimacy (Cambridge University Press 2019)

Sikora A, ‘Konstytucjonalizacja ochrony środowiska w prawie Unii Europejskiej’ [2017] Europejski Przegląd Sądowy 4

Sikora A, ‘Rola sądów krajowych w egzekwowaniu unijnych norm prawa ochrony środowiska’ [2021] Rocznik Administracji Publicznej 144

Stucki S, ‘Towards a Theory of Legal Animal Rights: Simple and Fundamental Rights’ (2020) 40 Oxford Journal of Legal Studies 533

Urbańska K, Prawo podmiotowe do dobrego środowiska w prawie międzynarodowym i polskim (Ars boni et aequi 2015)

Wolter A, Ignatowicz J, Stefaniuk K, Prawo cywilne. Zarys części ogólnej (4th edn, Wolters Kluwer 2020)

Wronkowska S, Analiza pojęcia prawa podmiotowego (Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu im. Adama Mickiewicza 1973)

Similar publications