Application of constitutional and human rights measures by the Supreme Court of Justice of Honduras to declare unconstitutional the Law for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, based on the 1991 Act of the UPOV Convention

On 17 November 2021, the Supreme Court of Justice of Honduras issued its judgment in the appeal of unconstitutionality against the Legislative Decree No. 21-2012 containing the Law for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants by the National Congress of Honduras on March 12, 2012. In this judgment, the Court applies several constitutional and international law measures that: guarantee the right to life, human dignity, and the right of Honduran men and women to have an adequate standard of living; guarantee the human right to food as the right of people to nutritious, healthy, and culturally adequate food; recognize the obligation of the State of Honduras to conserve an adequate environment to protect the health of its inhabitants; establish the duty of the State of Honduras to protect the native cultures of the country and farmers' rights as constitutionally and internationally recognized. Applying these legal measures, the Court declared Decree No. 21-2012 unconstitutional and, therefore, the Law for the Protection of Plant Varieties. The Court points out that this law "faithfully reflects the guidelines provided by UPOV" and violates farmers' rights as recognized by the ITPGRFA and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas