Public participation and legal standing: mexican high courts and the recognition of collective claims in urban and environmental conflicts

Resumo

This article describes changes in the rules that recognize standing before the courts to members of the community that oppose projects that damage the environment in contemporary Mexico. In particular, the article analyses how in the last three decades high courts abandoned traditional notions of legal interest, in order to give access to the courtroom to members of the community that claim their right to an adequate environment. The main finding refers to the fact that such recognition is not an invention of an activist judiciary; rather, it was through changes in the statutory legislation that such recognition took place, with the courts simply following those legislative changes. At the same time, the paper stresses that by following this course of action, the courts empowered citizens as much as it empowers judges themselves vis a vis the administrative branch of government.