The Constitutional Court has confirmed the suspension of two important laws approved by the Galician Parliament and appealed by the Government, which in both cases argued the need to guarantee the protection of the environment to request their suspension.
The first of these laws is 7/2022, of December 27, on fiscal and administrative measures, and the second is 4/2023, of July 6, on the integrated planning and management of the Galician coast.
The Government requested the suspension of various provisions of these legal texts, and the Constitutional Court agreed to it for an initial period of five months, which has now been extended indefinitely until a ruling is handed down, in principle in the next quarter.
The underlying issue debated in both appeals focuses on the legality of remaining buildings that may harm the landscape wealth and the natural environment on the Galician coasts.
The challenges formulated by the State Attorney's Office included the request for suspension, and it is legally provided that after the five-month period has elapsed, the Constitutional Court will have to decide whether to maintain the agreed suspension or lift it.
In this case, the court has confirmed the paralysis of the key point of the law, included in article 10 and its transitional provision, in which "they establish a period of 15 years of prescription of the action to impose the restoration of legality in “the easement zone for the protection of the maritime-terrestrial public domain.”
In short, it is a matter of resolving whether this 15-year period provides sufficient protection for the environment against certain constructions that could be about to be saved and whose continuation may be incompatible with the conservation of the environment.
The resolution – of which Judge Laura Díez, from the progressive sector of the court, has been the speaker – considers that, if the suspension of these precepts is not maintained, there could be “the consolidation of irreversible or difficult to reverse legal situations that would cause damage to the values.” natural and landscape of the Galician coast.”
The court says it has taken into consideration “the need to safeguard the environment, which is a preferential interest in this type of incident, in which the maintenance or lifting of the suspension of the rules is evaluated.”
In the second case, the Constitutional Court has also maintained the suspension of the key precepts of the law on the planning and integrated management of the Galician coast, with similar purposes and arguments.
The decision is based on the fact that, in this type of incidents - in which the viability of the challenges is not taken into consideration - the safeguarding of the ecological and environmental interest deserves "the status of preferential interest, given the fragility and irreparability of the damages." that could occur in the event of its disturbance.”
The resolution – of which Judge César Tolosa, from the conservative bloc of the Constitutional Court, was the speaker – has assessed “the impact” that the regulation of Galician law will have on the maritime terrestrial public domain.
To do this, it takes into account both the very definition and extension of the coastline that is contemplated in the law and the content of the powers that are recognized over its management and the uses that are allowed.
Now, he explains that he gives relevance to all these aspects due to “the constitutional obligation to protect the maritime-terrestrial domain [public domain] in order to ensure both the maintenance of its physical and legal integrity, as well as its public use and its landscape values.” , purposes contemplated in the Constitution itself.
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