Ecuador Constitutional Court Case: rights of the Monjas River

Summary

In October 2020, Ann Arlene and Pamela Lilian Monge Froebelius (owners of the historic Hacienda Carcelen in the northern section of Quito) filed a protective action claim against Quito’s municipal government, accusing its various entities of violating the rights of the Monjas River, as well as citizens’ rights to live in a clean environment, the right to a secure habitat, the right to water, the right to sustainable development, and the right to protect their cultural patrimony. The severe contamination of the river was verified in studies conducted by the municipality of Quito.

The Monjas River serves both domestic and industrial uses in the northwestern area of Quito, which has grown substantially since the 1980s. The urban expansion in this section of the city increased the impermeable ground surface that used to soak up the rains. In an effort to provide water to expanded neighborhoods in the northern sector, the Metropolitan Public Works Office created a collector for the pluvial and riverine waters that flowed. This Colegio Collector channeled increased flows of water 400 meters, changing the river’s flow and velocity. According to scientific expert studies and testimony, the Colegio Collector created erosion and undermined previous water channels, creating sedimentation. The ravines that were historically present in this area, widened and deepened as more water collected and drained into the basin in this section of the city. People living along the Monjas River, including those in the Hacienda Carcelen (a cultural patrimony site for Ecuador and the city), were now living on unstable slopes that threatened the integrity of their housing, as well as part of the country’s heritage.

The plaintiffs sued the municipality, asking the court for protective action for the Monjas River. The Municipality of Quito argued that the erosion and sedimentation were caused by the natural phenomena of increased rains and stronger currents from the river. They did not see a causal relationship between the Colegio Collector and the issues confronted by the residents. Rather, they argued the situation required mitigation steps and individual land owner intervention, potentially with future public works projects.

After losing at the municipal level, Ann Arlene and Pamela Lilian Monge appealed to the Pichincha Provincial Court for protective actions for the river, which they subsequently also lost on appeal. In September 2021, the advocates appealed their case to the Constitutional Court for extraordinary protective actions. The court agreed to hear the case, with various amicus curiae briefs and scientific experts testifying to the Constitutional Court regarding the severe contamination of the river. In January 2022, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, declaring that the municipality had violated the rights of the Monjas River.

The ruling clarifies cities’ responsibility (as representatives of the State) to guarantee the equilibrium of ecosystems within water basins, establishing this as a criteria for sustainable development. More specifically, the ruling establishes sustainable management of water resources as necessary to providing a safe and clean environment, which is guaranteed by the right to live in a clean environment. In this way, the Court identifies rights of nature (e.g., rights of water ecosystems), human environmental rights, and cities’ responsibility for ensuring these rights through ecologically sustainable development as all integrally connected, with rights of nature seen as necessary to ensure human environmental rights.

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