STATE CIVIL LIABILITY FOR OMISSION IN THE PROTECTION OF THE AMAZON: LEGAL ASSUMPTIONS FOR ESTABLISHING THE DUTY TO INDEMNIFY IN THE FACE OF ADVANCING DEFORESTATION

Abstract

This article examines the civil liability of the State for omission in the protection of the Amazon, particularly in light of increasing deforestation rates and potential failures in environmental enforcement. The study addresses the legal possibility of holding the State liable when administrative action proves insufficient or structurally deficient in fulfilling the constitutional duty of environmental protection established in Article 225 of the Constituição da República Federativa do Brasil de 1988, in conjunction with Article 37, paragraph 6, which sets forth the general regime of State liability. The research adopts a deductive method and a dogmatic-legal approach, based on normative and jurisprudential analysis of the Supremo Tribunal Federal and the Superior Tribunal de Justiça. The study examines the distinction between generic omission and specific omission, proposing the category of structural omission where systemic failure in environmental enforcement policy is identified. It argues that once the breach of a specific legal duty of protection and the causal link between administrative failure and collective environmental damage are established, the objective civil liability of the State may be recognized. The conclusion affirms that the protection of the Amazon demands an enhanced standard of state diligence, and that civil liability functions as a mechanism to ensure the effectiveness of the fundamental right to an ecologically balanced environment.