Loyalty Islands Province Environmental Code 2023: rights of sharks and sea turtles

Summary

In June 2023, the Loyalty Islands Provincial Environmental Code chapter on protected species was updated, incorporating several articles recognizing rights and legal status for sharks and sea turtles. The Environmental Code now contains natural entities as subjects of law (ENJ), a new category of legal person that does not exist in France or in any of its other overseas territories. Sharks and turtles are the first to benefit from this ENJ status, which gives them fundamental rights and the right to take legal action through spokespersons to protect their own interests.

Background
In 2016, the Assembly of the Province of the Loyalty Islands (located in the French territory of New Caledonia) enacted a new Provincial Environmental Code which recognized the cosmovision of Kanak peoples (the indigenous Melanesian people of New Caledonia) and stipulated that certain elements of Nature may be recognized as legal entities with their own rights. Those principles provided the basis for recognizing the rights of specific species. On June 29, 2023, the chapter on protected species was completed and published, including the following articles:

ARTICLE 242-16: “The elements of nature, living species and natural sites listed in article 242-17 are recognized as natural entities subject to rights. Fundamental rights are recognized for them. They have no duties. Neither the natural entities subject to rights, nor their spokespeople, nor the Loyalty Islands Province can be held responsible for any damage they may cause.”

ARTICLE 242-17: provides for the possibility of extending these rights and protection to other species upon proposal from customary authorities.

ARTICLE 242-18: “the right to a balanced natural environment, unpolluted and uncontaminated by human activities”; “the right not to be the property of any state, province, human group or individual”; “the right to exist naturally, to flourish, to regenerate in accordance with their life cycle and to evolve naturally”; and “the right not to be kept in captivity or servitude.”