At the invitation of the College and Teacher Development Centre of CUPL, Prof. Mathieu Disant from the School of Law of University of Paris I gave a lecture on the Constitutional Protection for Future Generations to the students on Xueyuanlu Campus on the after of 17 Oct, 2023.
Prof. Xiang Zhang from the Peking University Law School, Prof. Wang Kai from the Beihang University Law School, Prof. Zhang Li from the School of Law and Government of CUPL, and Prof. Zhao Hong from the CUPL Law School were the commentators. Associate Dean of the College Prof. Xie Libin and A/Prof. Luo Yao from the College attended the lecture. Prof. Wang Wei from the CUPL Law School moderated the lecture.
Prof. Disant explored French and European concerns about the constitutional protection of future generations. First, Disant mentioned the French Constitution of 1793 rule that ‘future generations’ must not be bound by predetermined laws. However, in the background of frequent environmental crises and climate deterioration, the protection of future generations has become a topic of close attention, and future generations have gradually become the subject of law. Since the 21st century, the concept of future generations as subjects has also been embodied in the constitution. In 2005, France incorporated into its constitution the Environment Charter, which provided that the use of the environment by the present generation shall not endanger the ability of future generations to enjoy the environment, but this provision still does not confer on future generations subjective rights, only the eligibility of future generations to benefit from the environment has been confirmed.
Disant then referred to a ruling by the German Constitutional Court in 2021, which found parts of the Climate Protection Act unconstitutional under Article 20A of the Basic Law. It marked a clear Basic Law for Germany on the German government's obligation to protect the rights and interests of future generations. He mentioned that in recent years the French constitutional council is also constantly exploring how to protect the rights of future generations. Then he introduced in-detail the three times when French government published certain rules and regulations, and concluded that in the constitutional review there has been more and more disputes about the rights of future generations.
Finally, he made a proposal for the protection of posterity in the French constitution. He believed that thinking about the protection of future generations could not be limited to the functions of the Constitutional Council, but could lead to the establishment of a parliament representing future generations or an association for the protection of environmental rights for future generations, making future generations' protection proceedings public prosecution.
Xie Libin, Zhang Xiang and Wang Kai then had in-depth exchanges with Disant on the binding force of the constitution, the definition of the legal subject status of future generations, the duty of state protection, and the validity of the decisions of the French Constitutional Council. Zhao Hong believed that Disant's concept of the ability of future generations provided the audiences with a way to circumvent the lack of clarity about the rights of future generations.
During the Q & A session, the students actively asked questions. Mo Qingwen, from the French law direction of the College’s Internationalised Legal Talents Experimental Class Program, asked questions in French.
This lecture was interpreted by Liu Honglin, a student also from the French law direction of the Program, so that all the students and teachers present could understand Disant's lecture. The aim of the Internationalised Legal Talents Experimental Class Program (French law) at the College is to train high-quality internationalised legal talents with the foundation of domestic law and French law, solid knowledge of French language, broad international vision and cross-cultural communication ability. In the future, it will play a role in international academic and cultural exchanges, foreign-related legal affairs, and the development of China’ rule of law.
