Rechte der Natur am Landgericht Erfurt

The rights of nature, a central concern of the Amazon of Rights project, are currently being discussed in many different jurisdictions in the Global South and the Global North. On 2 August 2024, the District Court (Landgericht) in Erfurt, Germany, became the first German court to recognise the rights of nature in the case 8 O 1373/21. The second case cited the Amazon of Rights project as an important reference point in current debates about the right of nature in Europe and internationally. The mention of rights of nature in this case may have potential ramifications for EU law and member states.

The Amazon of Rights project has been accompanying the debate about rights of nature in Germany over the past year. Accompanying this process of intercultural legal translation from the Global South – specifically from Ecuador where rights of nature have been developed in great detail – to Europe has played a significant role in the rooting of these legal developments in Germany. In particular, the Amazon of Rights project has been in close engagement with Judge Martin Borowsky, the author of the recent ruling in Erfurt in which the rights of nature have been contextualised within the broader framework of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Prior to the August 2024 recognition, the first oral hearing of the case took place at the Erfurt District Court, in which, for the first time in an oral hearing in German judicial history, the rights of nature were the subject of discussion. The Amazon of Rights project participated in this hearing. In its aftermath, the Amazon of Rights project organised a Rights of Nature Coffee Party (Kaffekränzchen/Cafecito) on 23 July 2024 at the University of Erfurt. This event brought together Judge Borowsky, civil society representatives and scholars, as well as Ecuadorian scholars, one of them from the Constitutional Court. The latter were able to share their experiences from Ecuador, the first and only country to incorporate the rights of nature into its constitution, where frogs, monkeys, orchids, and rivers are already winning cases in court.

The Amazon of Rights project is a collaboration between La Trobe University, Erfurt University, and RIFS Institute in Germany, and is funded by the Volkswagen Foundation. The project is directed by Prof. Luis Eslava (La Trobe), Prof. Michael Riegner (Erfurt), and Dr. Cecilia Oliveira (RIFS) and coordinated by Jenny García Ruales (Erfurt/Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology) and Igor Karim (RIFS).