La acción popular como instrumento de garantía de la tutela judicial efectiva del mar menor y su cuenca

Abstract

The Law 19/2022, dated September 30, for the recognition of legal personality to the Mar Menor lagoon and its basin, came into effect on October 3, 2022. Since then, the lagoon and its adjacent basin enjoy legal personality, which, in the words of the norm's promoting committee, "provides the most cutting-edge international instrument for nature protection." However, a significant portion of specialized doctrine questions whether this recognition provides any degree of unique environmental protection that could not be ensured through mechanisms already existing in our legal system. Despite this, the norm does seem to incorporate a genuine form of public action that, open without restrictions, breaks with the differentiating element of the action provided for in Law 27/2006, dated July 18, on Access to Environmental Justice, which limits the subjective scope to certain NGOs. This overcomes one of the main obstacles to access to environmental justice. However, the absence of costs and the extension of public action to all citizens may significantly increase litigation that is not always justified, a matter of great interest given the legal uncertainty stemming from the rights and prohibitions outlined in the norm.