Enforcing Rights of Nature in Ecuador: Hugo Echeverria

Hugo Echeverria shares his good legal story about protecting Nature for its own sake. Ecuador remains the 1st and only country on the planet to recognize express Rights of Nature (RON) constitutionally. Hugo has worked on a variety of cases to enforce this provision, contributing to some of the world’s only jurisprudence about RON. He is the author of the first Amicus Curiae submitted at the National Court of Justice, in a case regarding wildlife crime, as well as an Amicus Curiae submitted at the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, in the first case selected by the Court to issue binding jurisprudence on Rights of Nature.

Hugo Echeverria is an Attorney at Law who has worked in environmental law since 2001, with an emphasis on biodiversity conservation, the environmental rule of law, and the Rights of Nature, areas in which he practices as an attorney and a consultant. His work focuses on a comparative approach to constitutional environmental rights (constitucionalismo ambiental latinoamericano), Rights of Nature, and protected areas of international importance.

He has written books as well as essays and articles on environmental law for national and international publications. His book on environmental due process, Tutela judicial efectiva en material ambiental, is the first in Ecuador examining the issue from a constitutional perspective.

He holds a Doctor of Jurisprudence granted by Pontificia Universidad Católica de Quito, Ecuador and Master of Laws (LLM) granted by McGill University in Montreal – Quebec, Canada. He has also served as a Scholar-in-Residence in Global Environmental Constitutionalism at Widener University Delaware Law School.