A question
Would it be possible for a person, or group of people, to take legal action against their government for failure to protect them — and future generations — against a threat they acknowledge in their own publications is a serious one, but about which they are taking no practical action?
Possible? Sure. Would such an act be successful? Well I suppose that depends upon how you define success. I think it would publicise your government’s failures, but I can’t see your courts deciding against your government. Didn’t they recently rule that it was OK to drive a motorway through a neolithic burial ground? or something? A judiciary that is prepared to put short term interests before your heritage is unlikely to be too concerned about people who, having not yet been born, are powerless to protest.
November 27th, 2008 | 10:34pm
by pmm
“Didn’t they recently rule that it was OK to drive a motorway through a neolithic burial ground?”
Having seen a wide range of horror movies, I can confirm that this is a bad idea *whether or not* it has a climate change impact.
November 28th, 2008 | 12:10am
by john b
Hmm, wouldn’t have thought so. Pretty sure that the Government (any government actually) has made sure that it doesn’t owe a duty of care to the citizenry.
November 28th, 2008 | 11:50am
by Tim Worstall
Yeah, that’s what I thought Tim. But it’s surprisingly difficult to nail down. See, Article 45 of the Irish constitution includes the clause:
It’s vague as all hell, but it could be argued that a failure to act against the threat of Climate Change* seriously undermines the “welfare of the whole people”. It should be possible to demonstrate, therefore, that the government is not “securing and protecting as effectively as it may”.
Hmmm… I’ve recently designed a database for an Irish Legal Association. Maybe I’ll drop them a line and see if I can wring a bit of free official legal counsel out of them.
PMM: I suspect you’re right of course, and even if it was possible to sue the government for unconstitutional behaviour, the best one could hope for would be some publicity. All the same, it might be worth doing so for that reason alone.
John B: Tell me about it! If the contractors who worked on the M3 have their brains eaten by the angry dead, I for one will feel no sympathy whatsoever.
* It’s worth pointing out that whatever one’s personal views on Climate Change, the Irish government have acknowledged it as a serious threat.
November 28th, 2008 | 3:30pm
by Jim Bliss
As an aside, I’ve been studying the constitution over the past couple of days searching for something that would open the door to a legal action. Given that the above clause is the most likely candidate, I can’t say it’s looking very promising. However, I am quite impressed by the document (PDF file) in general.
There’s a bunch of stuff I disagree with (all the God stuff as well as the abortion and divorce clauses) but by and large it’s a pretty decent constitution and essentially commits Ireland to a basic socialism. I love this for example:
I’d argue that current government policy is — and has been since the early 90s — in clear breach of that article. Though that would be somewhat difficult to prove in court I imagine.
November 28th, 2008 | 3:41pm
by Jim Bliss