Criminal Protection of the Rights of Future Generations in International Documents

Abstract

The rights of future generations are those by which the natural resources inherited from the previous generation to the current generation are transferred to the future generation. These rights are one of the important topics and the basis of the restoration of intergenerational justice. From the international perspective, three propositions are assumed for this concept: First: protection of natural resources by every generation. Second:  the non-incurrence of irreparable damage through the exploitation of natural resources. Third:  belonging natural resources to all generations and the lack of justification for their belonging to a particular generation. Concern about the rights of future generations, is the common pain of all humanity, and the misuse of natural resources by the current generation is the cause of this concern for future generations. In this regard, international assemblies have considered it their duty to recognize the rights of future generations and protect them, and have taken important measures in this regard. At first, the concept of the rights of future generations entered international law with the ratification of the United Nations Charter in 1945 and then with the issuance of the Stockholm Declaration of 1972 in the form of binding and non-binding documents, and subsequently entered the domestic laws of countries.