Legal Protection of Environmental Human Rights Defenders in Uganda: Assessing the Adequacy of Constitutional, Statutory and Institutional Safeguards

Environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) enable communities to claim their environmental rights, to participate in decisions concerning land and natural resources and to hold those responsible for environmental harm to account. The paper presents a preliminary systematic review of existing literature on the adequacy of legal protection for EHRDs in Uganda. The paper discusses the legal framework on the environment and civic space, the functions of national institutions and courts and the recognition of environmental rights and access to justice in the constitution. Literature indicates a strong normative basis.The Ugandan constitution acknowledges the right to a clean and healthy environment, there is a structured system for governance within environmental laws, and civil society has utilized public interest litigation to challenge environmental decisions. However, the findings also reveal a lack of actual recognition and protection. Environmental human rights defenders and civil society organizations frequently encounter limited access to civic space; access to information and participation in decisionmaking processes is inconsistent; taking legal action can be costly; and there are ongoing reports of weak enforcement and poor coordination among institutions.Based on the available literature, legal protections in Uganda are considered significant but fragmented and not fully preventive.General human rights institutions and environmental rights mechanisms can provide some level of protection to defenders.