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DOI :10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007   IUP :10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007    Full Text (PDF)

Constitution and Sustainable Development

Oya Boyar

In the legal framework, sustainable development as a concept was firstly used and elaborated upon in international law. The concept has generally been treated as a matter of soft law by international instruments. However there is also non-negligible number of hard law documents that regulate specific elements of sustainable development. The concept had begun to find its place in the constitutions by the late 1980’s. In fact, the issues that the concept of sustainable development refers to were already regulated by national constitutions. However, the concept of sustainable development brought up a meaning different to that which was regulated by the constitution before. Sustainable development changes the way people relate to other people, society and the state. This shift can be observed by analysing the rights, duties and obligations that the concept imposes. This shift caused a transformative effect on constitutionalism’s old model of relationships based entirely on the state-individual dichotomy. This dichotomy functions when the primordial aim of constitutionalism is considered as the limitation of government authority for the protection of constitutional rights of the individuals. However the function of constitutionalism is no longer limited to this unequal relationship. The concept reconstructs and diversifies the functions of constitutionalism by perpetuating the conception of “common survival in the planet”. This conception requires more responsible citizens and much more responsible enterprises. The state is no longer the sole debtor of the constitution. Sustainable development imposes a privatization of constitutional relations. Despite the absence of the concept in the wording of the Turkish Constitution of 1982, Constitution refers systematically to the three pillars of sustainable development. The Constitution envisaged development plans as to the effective realisation and integration of the three pillars of sustainability.

Keywords: Constitution, Sustainable development, Soft law, Environment, Social justice, Economic development, Intergenerational justice, Intra-Generational justice, Solidarity
DOI :10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007   IUP :10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007    Full Text (PDF)

Anayasa ve Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma

Oya Boyar

Sürdürülebilir kalkınma hukuk alanında kavramsal olarak ilk defa uluslararası hukukta kullanılmış ve onun tarafından hazırlanmıştır. Bu kavram uluslararası belgelerde genellikle bir soft law meselesi olarak ele alınmıştır. Bununla birlikte sürdürülebilir kalkınmanın özel unsurlarını düzenleyen azımsanmayacak sayıda hard law belgesi de bulunmaktadır. Kavram 1980’li yılların sonundan itibaren anayasalarda yerini bulmaya başlamıştır. Aslında sürdürülebilir kalkınmanın referans yaptığı konular, anayasa içinde yer alan hususlardır. Ancak 80’lerin sonundan itibaren başlayan bu dönüşümün anayasacılık açısından farklı bir anlamı vardır. Sürdürülebilir kalkınma insanın, diğer insanlarla, toplumla ve devletle kurduğu ilişki biçimini değiştirmektedir. Bu değişim, kavramın gerektirdiği haklar, ödevler ve yükümlülükler incelenerek gözlemlenebilir. Bu değişim anayasacılığın devlet-birey ikiliği üzerine temellenmiş olan eski ilişki modelinde dönüştürücü bir etki yaratmıştır. Anayasacılığın asli amacı bireylerin anayasal haklarının korunması için devlet iktidarının sınırlandırılması olarak düşünüldüğünde, bu ikilik sorunsuz biçimde işlemektedir. Ancak anayasacılığın işlevi artık bu eşit olmayan ilişkiyle sınırlı değildir. Kavram beraberinde “hep birlikte gezegen üstünde hayatta kalma” anlayışını getirerek, anayasacılığın işlevlerini yeniden inşa etmekte ve çeşitlendirmektedir. Bu kavram daha sorumlu vatandaşları daha sorumlu şirketleri beraberinde getirmektedir. Devlet artık anayasanın tek muhatabı değildir. Sürdürülebilir kalkınma kavramı anayasal ilişkilerin de özelleşmesine neden olmaktadır. 1982 Anayasasının metninde sürdürülebilir kalkınma kavramı kullanılmamış olsa da, Anayasa bu kavramın üç ayağına sistematik olarak referans yapmaktadır. Anayasa kalkınma planlarını sürdürülebilirliğin üç ayağının etkili bir biçimde gerçekleştirilmesi ve entegrasyonu için öngörmüştür. 

Keywords: Anayasa, Sürdürülebilir kalkınma, Soft law, Çevre, Sosyal adalet, Ekonomik kalkınma, Kuşaklar arası adalet, Kuşak içi Adalet, Dayanışma

EXTENDED ABSTRACT


International law on sustainable development began to take shape mainly in the 1970s. By the early 1990s, the term was already recognized by international law. Conceptually, the elements of sustainable development have been adapted to the field of law through soft law instruments (United Nations General Assembly resolutions, declarations, action plans, etc.). On the other hand, there is also an international hard law regarding elements such as environmental protection, social development and economic development to which the concept refers. In other words, while sustainable development is conceptually defined by declarations, its implementation is left to more specific and much more concrete international treaties.  

Following the Brundtland Report, the term sustainable development has been widely used. In particular, the statement “ability to make development sustainable to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” seems to have been adopted as the definition of sustainable development. However, in our opinion, this term actually emphasizes the moral obligation that sustainable development imposes. In our opinion, the section in the Brundtland Report that can be considered as the definition of sustainable development is in the following paragraph: “sustainable development is not a fixed state of harmony, but rather a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investments, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are made consistent with future as well as present needs”.  

The difference of sustainable development from the terminology of “environmental protection”, which emerged conceptually before it, is that it puts the “integration” and “relation” between intergenerational justice (environmental protection) and intragenerational justice (social and economic development / development) at the center of law. The concept began to find its place in constitutions in the late 1980’s. In fact, the issues that the concept of sustainable development refers to were already regulated by the national constitutions. However, the concept of sustainable development brought up a different meaning to that which was regulated by the constitution before. Sustainable development changes the way people relate to other people, society and the state. This shift can be observed while analysing the rights, duties and obligations that the concept imposes. This shift caused a transformative effect on constitutionalism’s old model of relationships based entirely on the state-individual dichotomy. This dichotomy functions when the primordial aim of constitutionalism is considered as the limitation of government authority for the protection of constitutional rights of the individuals. However the function of constitutionalism is no longer limited to this unequal relationship. The concept reconstructs and diversifies the functions of constitutionalism by perpetuating the conception of “common survival in the planet”.  

In this study, the interpretation of the constitution in terms of the concept of sustainable development has been accomplished by reference to mutual relations between international law and national law on the one hand, and citizen – society – state on the other. AN individual’s relationship with nature is a relation of mutual inclusion. In this respect, neither solely starting from nature nor starting from human being would be appropriate for judicial interpretation: The interpretation of the constitutional environmental right can take place primarily, as François Ost suggests, on the basis of the “human-nature relationship”.

Constitutions may or may not include regulations on sustainable development; national policies can be decisive in this respect. However, especially when considered together with sustainable development goals, international sustainability requires, as a minimum, incorporation of procedural safeguards (specifically expressed in the Aarhus Convention) in all constitutional systems in one form or another. In the 1982 Constitution, development plans emerge as the basic principle that connects the three pillars of the concept of sustainable development. The Constitution has highlighted the concept of planning in order to link economic development with social justice. Finally, constitutional sustainable development can be based on a relational value: on the principle of solidarity that says “to see someone else’s gain as one’s own gain”, “to know that the society is as strong as its weakest”, “to progress towards a common value by enriching with pluralism and tolerance”. This is how we understand the principle of national solidarity prescribed by Article 2 of the 1982 Constitution.


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APA

Boyar, O. (2020). Constitution and Sustainable Development. Istanbul Law Review, 78(4), 1921-1957. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007


AMA

Boyar O. Constitution and Sustainable Development. Istanbul Law Review. 2020;78(4):1921-1957. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007


ABNT

Boyar, O. Constitution and Sustainable Development. Istanbul Law Review, [Publisher Location], v. 78, n. 4, p. 1921-1957, 2020.


Chicago: Author-Date Style

Boyar, Oya,. 2020. “Constitution and Sustainable Development.” Istanbul Law Review 78, no. 4: 1921-1957. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007


Chicago: Humanities Style

Boyar, Oya,. “Constitution and Sustainable Development.” Istanbul Law Review 78, no. 4 (May. 2024): 1921-1957. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007


Harvard: Australian Style

Boyar, O 2020, 'Constitution and Sustainable Development', Istanbul Law Review, vol. 78, no. 4, pp. 1921-1957, viewed 9 May. 2024, https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007


Harvard: Author-Date Style

Boyar, O. (2020) ‘Constitution and Sustainable Development’, Istanbul Law Review, 78(4), pp. 1921-1957. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007 (9 May. 2024).


MLA

Boyar, Oya,. “Constitution and Sustainable Development.” Istanbul Law Review, vol. 78, no. 4, 2020, pp. 1921-1957. [Database Container], https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007


Vancouver

Boyar O. Constitution and Sustainable Development. Istanbul Law Review [Internet]. 9 May. 2024 [cited 9 May. 2024];78(4):1921-1957. Available from: https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007 doi: 10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007


ISNAD

Boyar, Oya. “Constitution and Sustainable Development”. Istanbul Law Review 78/4 (May. 2024): 1921-1957. https://doi.org/10.26650/mecmua.2020.78.4.0007



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Submitted01.10.2020
Accepted05.01.2021
Published Online16.02.2021

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