The Delimitation of the competence of the environmental administrative litigation in the jurisprudence of the environmental courts

Abstract

The judicial challenge of administrative acts of the State in Chile is governed by three mechanisms established in the country’s legal system. In the first place, there are the special actions contemplated in the law, whose competence corresponds to the ordinary courts. Second, there are the special actions contemplated in the law, the jurisdiction of which corresponds to the special courts. Thirdly, constitutional actions may be brought before ordinary courts. In this context, doubts arise as to the categorization of certain administrative acts, especially those of an environmental nature, since there is no clear legal definition in this respect. This lack of legislative clarity has led to uncertainty as to whether certain acts must be challenged before ordinary courts through constitutional actions or whether they must follow the general environmental claim action process, established in Article 17 N° 8 of Law N° 20,600. In the absence of a precise answer in the law, judges have had to address this question in their jurisprudence. This situation poses the risk of future jurisdictional disputes, as two types of courts could declare themselves competent to resolve the same cases. In this context, the Environmental Courts has taken the initiative to grant itself jurisdiction to hear cases in which this uncertainty exists, with the aim of ensuring broader access to environmental justice.