AQUIFER AS SUBJECT OF RIGHTS: THE BRAZILIAN LEGAL PRECEDENT

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v22.2749

Abstract

The Right of Nature is increasingly reaffirming itself in the new Latin American constitutionalism by attributing legal personality to nature, to non-human subjects. This work discloses the pioneering spirit of granting an aquifer the status of subject of rights, in a worldwide unprecedented law, enacted on March 15, 2024, by the Cambuquira municipality, in the Minas Gerais state, Brazil. For this purpose, a documentary analysis of the law and a synthetic review of the literature were carried out, outlining considerations of environmental and civil legislation, with a focus on the subject of rights and on nature as a subject of rights in laws and judgments, based on international and national precedents. Next, it seeks to clarify groundwater and aquifers, the Carbogasous Water Aquifer in Cambuquira-MG and its recognition as a subject of rights by force of law. The Cambuquira municipality innovated in the national legal system by legislating the protection of groundwater and by granting the status of subject of rights to this aquifer, within the limits of its territory, as well as establishing a new precedent, both nationally and internationally, which will favor making groundwater visible and promoting greater protection thereof.

Author Biographies

Luciana Cordeiro de Souza Fernandes, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

Associate Professor at Faculdade de Ciências Aplicadas of Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas/SP, Brazil. PhD and Master’s degrees in Diffuse Rights: Environmental Law from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP), São Paulo/SP, Brazil. Specialist Certification in Criminal Law and Procedural Law from Universidade São Francisco (USF), Bragança Paulista/SP, Brazil. Specialist Certification in Civil Procedural Law from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas (PUC-Campinas), Campinas/SP, Brazil. Degree in Law from USF. Professor of Law at FCA/UNICAMP and Coordinator for the Graduate Program in Teaching and History of Earth Sciences (PPG-EHCT) at the UNICAMP Instituto de Geociências Leader of the CNPQ/UNICAMP “Aquageo Ambiente Legal” Research Group. Lawyer. Environmental Consultant and Opinion giver. Founding member of the Environmental Law Professors Association of Brazil (APRODAB) and State Coordinator – São Paulo/SP, Brazil.

Alexandre Martins Fernandes, Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)

Post-doctoral degree from Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia (ICT) of Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP), São José dos Campos/SP, Brazil. Post-doctoral degree from Faculdade de Engenharia de Bauru (FEB) da UNESP, Bauru/SP, Brazil. PhD and Master’s degrees from Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura da Universidade de São Paulo (CENA/USP), Piracicaba/SP, Brazil. Degree in Environmental Management from Escola Superior de Agricultura “Luiz de Queiroz” (ESALQ-USP), Piracicaba/SP, Brazil. Degree in Social Communication from Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM), São Paulo/SP, Brazil. Leader of the CNPQ/UNICAMP “Aquageo Ambiente Legal” Research Group.

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Published

2025-06-17

How to Cite

Souza Fernandes, L. C. de, & Martins Fernandes, A. (2025). AQUIFER AS SUBJECT OF RIGHTS: THE BRAZILIAN LEGAL PRECEDENT. Veredas Do Direito, 22(1), e222749. https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v22.2749

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2025): Veredas do Direito, v. 22, n. 1 2025

Section

Articles

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