Original article: TC recorta la “megarreforma” de Kast: caen por inconstitucionales disposiciones que debilitaban la protección ambiental

Chilean Constitutional Court Strikes Down Key Provisions of Kast’s Mega-Reform Weakening Environmental Protections

The Constitutional Court (TC) has implemented significant cuts to the «mega-economic and tax reform» championed by José Antonio Kast, ruling some provisions unconstitutional that reduced environmental protections in Chile.

On Thursday, the judicial body partially accepted three constitutional challenges raised by opposition deputies and senators against various norms included in the legislative package.

These challenges were consolidated into a single case under Roll No. 17,828-26-CPT, collectively addressing different provisions of the bill (Bulletin No. 18,216-05). The opposition’s complaints targeted the article establishing tax invariability, related to compensations arising from environmental qualification resolutions, limitations on presenting appeals within the Environmental Evaluation System, and regulations regarding precautionary measures in these proceedings.

According to a statement released, the TC ruled unconstitutional articles 12 and 13, which provided indemnities for investment projects with annulled Environmental Qualification Resolutions (RCA).

The court also upheld the challenge to the phrase «that have not been evaluated and», contained in article 11 No. 4, revising article 20 of the General Environmental Bases Law. This pertains to those who did not submit comments during public participation. They must ground their claims in «aspects that have not been evaluated» and that directly affect them.

Regarding article 5, which amends Law No. 20,434 concerning relocation of aquaculture concessions and exempts so-called «micro-relocations» from entering the Environmental Impact Assessment System (SEIA), the TC declared the unconstitutionality of item 2, specifically in the phrase ‘micro-relocation’, and the entirety of item 3.

TC’s Halt on Tax Invariability

In the tax arena, the most significant cut instituted by the Constitutional Court against the package promoted from La Moneda centers on article 29, which sets forth the tax invariability statute for investors, both foreign and local.

The court declared various phrases unconstitutional. For instance, it removed the phrase «among others» from the title related to investment contracts and fully cut item 4, which regulates so-called “related projects”.

The body reported that regarding the other contested norms, it agreed to reject the challenges presented by the legislators.

The content of the statement is exclusively intended to disclose the dispositive part of the resolution, and the TC indicated that the details of the votes and the reasoning behind the judgment, as well as dissenting opinions, will be revealed later, «within the time frame established in articles 93, paragraph five of the Political Constitution and 67 of Law No. 17,997, the Constitutional Organic Law of the Constitutional Court».

.