Year: 2026
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: This chapter analyzes the ongoing transition from an anthropocentric environmental paradigm to an ecocentric legal framework within the Brazilian legal system. It examines how the jurisprudence of the country's higher courts—particularly the Federal Supreme Court and the Superior Court of Justice—alongside pioneering local legislative initiatives, has contributed to the process of legal “ecologization”. Special attention is given to the distinctive role of municipalities under Brazil's federative model, which enables local governments to adopt advanced environmental regulations, including the formal recognition of Nature as a subject of rights. The chapter also explores the judiciary's role in promoting principles such as the prohibition of socio-environmental regression and the ecological functions of property and contracts. Methodologically, the study adopts a deductive approach, moving from general theoretical and normative perspectives on the ecologization of law to their concrete expression in judicial rulings and municipal legislation within Brazil's federal structure.
Source: Routledge eBooks
Author: Leura Dalla Riva
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W7160551343