Hennaoui, Leila

This article examines the constitutionalization of environmental protection in Algeria, tracing a trajectory from prolonged constitutional silence to the explicit recognition of the right to a healthy environment in the 2016 constitutional amendment, and its subsequent reframing within the sustainable development paradigm in the 2020 revision. Situating Algeria within the broader global trend of environmental constitutionalism, the article argues that this evolution was shaped not solely by international normative pressures but by a complex interplay of colonial legacies, postcolonial sovereignty concerns, progressive domestic environmental legislation, and internal socio-political mobilization — most notably the 2014 shale gas protests in southern Algeria. Drawing on comparative constitutional law and environmental governance literature, the article critically assesses the institutional mechanisms and procedural environmental rights established under the 2020 Constitution, evaluates their capacity to translate formal recognition into effective environmental protection, and identifies a persistent effectiveness gap rooted in ambiguous constitutional drafting, limited judicial practice, and structural governance deficits.