Towards Regimes for Sustainable Mineral Resource Management: Constitutional Reform, Law and Judicial Decisions in Latin America

This chapter examines mining legislation trends in Latin America. It focuses on the interpretation of the judicial decisions of the Constitutional Court of Colombia regarding conditions and processes for decision-making in the context of mining projects. The chapter also undertakes an initial overview of the economic organisation and the sector legislation model adopted in Bolivia. Our work anticipates a shift from sectoral regimes, which focus on exploration and exploitation, towards regimes for decision-making processes that mainstream constitutional principles and legal frameworks that apply to managing territories and their natural resources. In all cases, the emphasis is on reflecting on gaps in legal and institutional design an on corresponding challenges, which include the need to strengthen the capacities of institutions and the actors that participate in decision-making processes to advance efforts aimed at furthering sustainable mineral resource management in the region