The ex officio court review of the environmental sanction: : an unnecessary procedural requirement

Abstract

The ex officio court review (consulta) as a procedural requirement does not usually generate controversy, since at present its application is limited to a very low proportion of procedures within our legal system. However, since the enactment of Law Nº20,600 (2012) - where the obligation to raise certain sanctions applied by the Superintendence of the Environment for juditial review, is established - the purpose, scope and limits of this procedural institution has become a part of the legal debate. Beyond a recount of its application by the environmental courts and the problems that have been detected in these years, the objective of this work is to analyze whether this institution is justified from the perspective of the public interest involved in the application of environmental sanctions, concluding that it is an unnecessary procedure.