INTRODUCTION
Mongolian people possess a long-standing political and legal tradition rooted in a rich historical legacy. Throughout history, Mongolia has experienced periods of rise and decline, fragmentation and unity, revolutionary transformation and state-building, ultimately establishing a modern democratic and independent state. By proclaiming human rights and fundamental freedoms in its Constitution, Mongolia has contributed a distinctive cultural and constitutional heritage to the broader history of humanity.
At every stage of its historical development, Mongolia has relied on its customs, traditions, moral values, and collective wisdom often referred to as the “clear-mindedness of the Mongolian people” to overcome adversity and identify pathways for progress. It is widely acknowledged that each historical period presented its own pressing challenges, yet these challenges were addressed through social resilience and pragmatic reasoning. In contemporary Mongolia, however, although pressing issues exist across all sectors of society, the challenge whose consequences continue to intensify over time is the deterioration of public health. In this context, the protection of the health of the Mongolian people has emerged as an urgent and overriding priority that cannot be postponed.
The continued existence of the Mongolian state and the preservation of its historical continuity ultimately depend on the health of its people and future generations. While it is necessary to examine past experiences, present conditions, and future directions through scientifically grounded and doctrinal research, prioritization of issues is essential. From this perspective, population health has become the foremost national concern. Accordingly, this study deliberately limits its scope to an examination of the conceptual foundations of Mongolia’s democratic Constitution, the fundamental human rights enshrined therein, and, in particular, the implementation, consequences, and pressing challenges associated with the right to live in a healthy and safe environment.
At present, Mongolia is commemorating significant constitutional milestones, including the centenary of the adoption of its first Constitution following the proclamation of the republic, as well as more than three decades of achievements under the democratic Constitution. These milestones have been marked by scholarly gatherings, official recognition, and public reflection on constitutional accomplishments. Yet beyond ceremonial celebration and institutional recognition, a stark contradiction persists between constitutional ideals and lived reality. Despite constitutional guarantees, many citizens continue to experience environmental conditions comparable to being confined within a polluted and hazardous environment, underscoring the gap between normative constitutional promises and their practical realization.
DEMOCRACY AND THE MONGOLIAN CONSTITUTION
Democracy is a system of governance founded on collective decision-making through majority rule, oriented toward the pursuit of the common good. Its ultimate objective is to create a rational social order in which individuals are able to enjoy freedom, health, and their inherent, natural rights. Mongolia chose the path of democracy through peaceful means and adopted its democratic Constitution in 1992.
Constitutional scholars widely characterize the Constitution of Mongolia as the primary legal and political instrument for guaranteeing human rights and fundamental freedoms and for establishing and consolidating constitutionalism. Extensive academic discourse has been devoted to examining its historical significance, achievements, shortcomings, and transformative role. Research conducted by constitutional scholars has explored, inter alia, the achievements of the Constitution, the development of constitutionalism, constitutional democracy, the separation of powers, and the place and significance of human rights within the constitutional framework. These efforts have resulted in a substantial body of scholarly output, including monographs, textbooks, conference papers, research compilations, and analytical reports, reflecting sustained intellectual engagement with constitutional governance in Mongolia.
Despite this rich scholarly tradition and the formal recognition of constitutional achievements, a fundamental question remains unresolved: has the democratic society proclaimed in the Preamble of the democratic Constitution truly been realized in practice? This question highlights the persistent gap between constitutional ideals and lived reality. As one legal scholar has observed, profound reforms often require a long historical process before they achieve their intended outcomes. In this sense, the democratic Constitution should not be assessed solely by its normative declarations, but by the extent to which its foundational values have been translated into tangible social conditions that genuinely safeguard human rights and the common good.1
More than three decades have passed since Mongolia adopted its democratic Constitution in 1992, as noted above. During this period, the country has undertaken continuous and phased legal reforms grounded in the constitutional framework and guiding principles. As a result, measurable progress has been achieved in the development of legal science, and Mongolia has gradually moved closer to the democratic objectives it initially set for itself. Nevertheless, significant challenges remain with regard to the protection and effective implementation of the human rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE CONSTITUTION
When Mongolia transitioned to a democratic system and adopted a new Constitution, particular emphasis was placed on the constitutional recognition, practical realization, and protection of human rights. This priority is clearly reflected in the structure and substance of the 1992 Constitution. As Professor Chimid.B, Doctor of Law and one of the principal drafters of the Constitution, notably observed, the chapter on human rights and freedoms was deliberately placed before the chapter on state institutions. This constitutional design decision was intended to affirm that human rights are inherent and inalienable, while state institutions exist primarily to respect, protect, and ensure the realization of those rights.
The recognition of human dignity and the acceptance and protection of individual rights and freedoms therefore constitute one of the core conceptual foundations of Mongolia’s new democratic Constitution. This human-centered constitutional philosophy reflects a deliberate shift toward placing the individual at the heart of constitutional governance and underscores the normative commitment to human rights as the highest constitutional value.2
In other words, one of the fundamental principles of democracy is the recognition and protection of inherent human rights. Ensuring the enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms therefore constitutes a core objective of a democratic society.
In accordance with the conceptual framework of the democratic Constitution, Chapter Two is devoted to human rights and freedoms. This constitutional structure serves to reinforce the centrality of human rights, the guarantees for their realization, and the corresponding obligations of the state. Within the scope of economic, social, and cultural rights, the right to personal security and the right to health are expressly enshrined in Articles 16.2 and 16.6 of the Constitution of Mongolia. By constitutionally affirming these rights, the Constitution clearly establishes the protection of health as a fundamental right through which every citizen may seek action and protection from the state.3
Within the conceptual framework of the democratic Constitution, human rights particularly the right to live in a healthy and safe environment are expressly proclaimed and protected. This constitutional guarantee is further elaborated through sector-specific legislation, including health-related laws and state policy documents, which have been developed and implemented as part of the broader regulatory framework. Moreover, Mongolia has acceded to and ratified numerous international treaties and agreements that reinforce and complement the protection of this right.
In addition, Mongolia’s sustainable development policy envisions that by 2030 the conditions necessary for a healthy and long life for Mongolian citizens will be ensured, with the national average life expectancy projected to reach 78 years. This objective reflects a clear policy commitment to improving public health and living conditions.
CHALLENGES IN IMPLEMENTATION: THE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT
Despite the existence of detailed legal regulations governing the right to protect one’s health and to live in a healthy and safe environment, its effective implementation remains inadequate. This deficiency is evidenced by academic research, empirical data, official reports, and, most visibly, by the lived experiences of citizens in their daily lives. The gap between formal legal guarantees and practical realization has become increasingly apparent.
Accordingly, if the protection of public health and the well-being of the Mongolian people is to be taken seriously, the right to live in a healthy and safe environment and the mechanisms for its implementation must be treated as a priority issue. In other words, when identifying the most urgent matters within the broader framework of health promotion and health protection, the right to live in a healthy and safe environment should occupy a central position in legal and policy analysis.
Although the scope of this right encompasses not only air pollution but also issues related to water quality, soil contamination, and other environmental factors, the most acute and alarming threat at present is air pollution. Numerous studies and empirical findings have demonstrated that air pollution poses the most immediate and severe risk to public health. Moreover, there is little room for dispute regarding the hazardous level of air pollution to which citizens are exposed on a daily basis, particularly through the air they breathe.
These considerations lead to the conclusion that, notwithstanding the constitutional proclamation of the right to live in a healthy and safe environment, its implementation remains insufficient. While the health of the Mongolian people is influenced by multiple factors such as access to healthy food and the adoption of healthy lifestyles the temporal urgency and severity of the consequences associated with air pollution have reached a level that may be characterized as catastrophic.
Human rights are universal and inherent; they belong to every individual by virtue of birth, irrespective of nationality, citizenship, or place of residence. In this sense, the ultimate purpose of legal systems as a whole is to serve the realization and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms.4
However, in Ulaanbaatar, the right to health of residents is being violated as a direct consequence of environmental pollution, rendering the constitutional right to live in a healthy and safe environment effectively unattainable in practice.
More specifically, the capital city is home to nearly half of Mongolia’s population and has become one of the most heavily polluted capitals in the world. Statistical data consistently demonstrate that, with each passing year, environmental pollution has led to rising rates of disease and, ultimately, increased mortality. By way of illustration bearing in mind that such figures continue to worsen annually on the coldest days of the year, the daily average concentration of PM2.5 has reached as high as 687 micrograms per cubic meter, a level approximately twenty-seven times higher than the safety threshold recommended by the World Health Organization.
Air pollution has also contributed to ozone depletion in the upper atmosphere, further exacerbating adverse impacts on public health. Elevated concentrations of toxic gases in the air exert both direct and indirect effects on human health. Empirical studies conducted by scientists and researchers indicate that air pollution significantly increases the prevalence and incidence of respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disorders, central nervous system impairments, allergic conditions, genetic abnormalities, congenital malformations, and cancers. Moreover, it has been shown to undermine reproductive health by increasing the risk of fetal damage and premature birth, while simultaneously weakening children’s immune systems and impairing their physical growth and development.
As noted above, Mongolia has proclaimed the right to health as an inalienable human right at both constitutional and international levels. From this, several conclusions may be drawn. Although the right to live in a healthy and safe environment has been incorporated into the constitutional framework and reinforced through Mongolia’s accession to and ratification of international treaties, empirical data, academic research, and the current lived reality clearly demonstrate that this right is not being effectively implemented in practice. In other words, while Mongolia has successfully and peacefully transitioned to democracy and has fostered a growing culture of respect for human rights, serious challenges persist with regard to the actual realization of those rights.
Accordingly, it may be concluded that the implementation of the constitutional right to live in a healthy and safe environment remains inadequate, and that the consequences of this failure pose potential risks not only to individual well-being but also to state sovereignty and national security. This is because a healthy population constitutes the foundation of a nation’s sustainable future.
It follows that when citizens are able to live in a healthy and safe environment, the sovereignty, independence, and democratic foundations of the Mongolian state are strengthened and reinforced. Therefore, in order to safeguard the implementation of constitutionally protected rights and to address the pressing challenges associated with their realization, it is essential to conduct a comparative examination of advanced legal frameworks and regulatory models adopted in other jurisdictions. Such a comparative legal approach offers a viable pathway for identifying effective solutions and overcoming the challenges currently confronting the protection of the right to live in a healthy and safe environment in Mongolia.5
COMPARATIVE LEGAL APPROACHES
The problem of air pollution is not unique to Mongolia. It constitutes a pressing global challenge faced by many countries, which have sought to address it by developing effective legal frameworks and best practices aimed at ensuring the practical realization of human rights. In this regard, numerous states have made sustained efforts to establish regulatory models that reconcile environmental protection with the safeguarding of fundamental rights.
In the case of Mongolia, however, certain constitutionally protected human rights remain largely declaratory in nature, with insufficient practical implementation. This situation underscores the necessity of examining advanced legal models and best practices from other jurisdictions and adapting them in accordance with Mongolia’s own constitutional principles and values. Such an approach enables the refinement and strengthening of domestic legal regulation while remaining faithful to the underlying conceptual foundations of the democratic Constitution.
Each legal norm that constitutes part of a legal system should be consistent with the universal values of humanity. Legal systems are, by their very nature, receptive and continuously shaped through processes of reception and adaptation. Within this context, the primary function of comparative legal studies like that of other scientific disciplines is to generate and disseminate knowledge. If legal science is to move beyond merely interpreting statutory provisions and legal principles within a national legal order, it must also engage in broader analytical inquiry that situates domestic law within a comparative and universal framework6 If legal science is understood as a discipline that identifies the nature of concrete social problems, explores possible solutions, and evaluates whether those solutions conform to the requirements of justice, then comparative law emerges as a field that is richer and more normatively grounded than legal scholarship confined to a single national legal system. Comparative law is capable of offering deeper insights, justice-oriented perspectives, and well-founded legal solutions by situating domestic legal issues within a broader analytical framework. In this sense, it provides not only methodological tools but also substantive knowledge for addressing legal problems in a more comprehensive and principled manner.
As early as 1971, the distinguished English comparativist H. S. Maine emphasized that the principal theoretical function of comparative law lies in improving legislation and enhancing the practical effectiveness of legal systems. This view highlights the close connection between comparative legal analysis and the refinement of legal practice.
Similarly, in his work published in 1990, René David articulated the role and purpose of comparative law by framing it as an essential instrument for understanding diverse legal systems and for developing more effective, coherent, and just legal norms through systematic comparison.
According to René David, the objectives of comparative legal studies may be summarized as follows: first, to enhance understanding of one’s own national legal system and, on that basis, to improve and refine legislation; second, to promote the harmonization and systematic integration of legal norms; and third, to foster international mutual understanding, thereby contributing positively to the development of international relations.
From the perspective of Mongolia, identifying effective mechanisms for ensuring the practical realization of constitutionally protected yet insufficiently implemented human rights requires a systematic comparative examination of selected legal institutions and regulatory models. Such comparative analysis is of significant value in overcoming existing challenges, strengthening the legal framework, and improving the overall effectiveness of rights protection.
By way of illustration, one notable institutional limitation concerns the Constitutional Court of Mongolia, which does not accept or adjudicate individual complaints alleging specific violations of human rights. Instead, the right to lodge a constitutional complaint is treated in an abstract manner. Citizens are generally unable to submit complaints concerning violations that directly affect their individual rights; rather, complaints are limited to allegations that a particular law or a public official designated under law has violated the Constitution. As a result, the Constitutional Court lacks the competence to review and decide cases brought by individuals who claim that their constitutional rights have been directly infringed.
This institutional design significantly constrains access to constitutional justice and weakens the practical protection of fundamental rights. Consequently, comparative legal analysis of constitutional complaint mechanisms in other jurisdictions offers a critical pathway for identifying potential reforms aimed at strengthening individual rights protection and enhancing the effectiveness of constitutional review in Mongolia.7
At present, the activities of the Constitutional Court are confined to reviewing and adjudicating disputes concerning the constitutionality of legislation, primarily by determining whether specific statutory provisions are inconsistent with the Constitution. While this form of constitutional review plays an important role in safeguarding constitutional supremacy, it remains limited in scope.
In the context of the right to live in a healthy and safe environment, these limitations reveal a significant regulatory gap. Where the legal framework governing this right is insufficiently developed, and where the institutions and officials constitutionally mandated to elaborate, adopt, and implement such regulation fail to act, there is a clear need for legal mechanisms capable of imposing responsibility for unconstitutional omissions. In other words, when state actors do not exercise their constitutionally assigned duties through inaction, effective legal accountability mechanisms are required to ensure the realization of constitutionally protected rights.
Any effort to improve legal regulation must be grounded in the specific characteristics of the country concerned, including its climate, demographic composition, social awareness, cultural traditions, historical trajectory, and empirical research findings. Given that issues of state sovereignty, national interests, and, most critically, human life and health are directly implicated, a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach is required. This necessitates not only detailed, cross-sectoral analysis but also research grounded in the principles and methods of comparative law.
Comparative legal studies play a crucial role in the reception of foreign legal models and in their adaptation often described as the process of “legal transplantation” or localization within domestic legal systems. Historical experience demonstrates this clearly, from early modern developments in United Kingdom and France, to later reforms in Germany and Japan, as well as in post-socialist and developing legal systems, including Mongolia. These examples illustrate that comparative law serves not as a mechanism for mechanical imitation, but as a method for critically assessing and contextually integrating foreign legal experiences in order to strengthen domestic legal orders.8
CONCLUSION
The constitutional structure of the Mongolian state, together with the protection of human rights, fundamental freedoms, and the public interest, constitutes a core safeguard of state resilience and constitutional stability. The constitutional entrenchment of human rights and freedoms, whether in the Constitution itself or in subsidiary legislation, does not in itself guarantee their effective realization. Rights do not become operative merely by virtue of their formal recognition.
Accordingly, it is essential to establish effective legal and institutional mechanisms capable of preventing potential violations of human rights and of providing timely and adequate protection when such rights are threatened or have been infringed. Only through the existence and proper functioning of such mechanisms can constitutional guarantees be transformed from declaratory norms into practical and enforceable rights, thereby strengthening constitutionalism, the rule of law, and public trust in the democratic state.9
The fundamental objective of a democratic society is to ensure the full enjoyment of human rights and freedoms, together with the satisfaction of basic living needs. However, in practice, these minimum requirements are not being adequately fulfilled. In brief, high levels of air pollution pose a serious risk to human life and health by contributing to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases that lead to premature mortality. Consequently, air pollution has a direct and adverse impact on the fundamental rights to life and to health.10
In order to ensure the effective realization of the right to live in a healthy and safe environment as protected by the democratic Constitution, it is necessary to conduct research grounded in the methods and principles of comparative law. On this basis, the achievements and best practices of other jurisdictions should be carefully examined and refined through adaptation to the national context, taking into account Mongolia’s cultural traditions and constitutional values.
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Footnotes
1. Henry W. Taft. Law reform; papers and addresses by a practicing lawyer. 1926.
2. Chimid. B. The rule of respecting the Constitution. 2006. p. 80.
3. Chimid. B. Constitutional Law Knowledge. 2008. p. 122.
4. Boldbaatar.J, Lundeejantsan.D. Historical traditions of the state and law of Mongolia. 2021.
5. “Some Human Rights Issues in Mongolia”. 2024. p 1098.
6. Zweigert. K, Kotz. H. An Introduction to Comparative Law, 1998.
7. Enkhbaatar.Ch. Analysis of the implementation of the 1992 Constitution of Mongolia.2016. p. 69.
8. Amarsanaa. B. Comparative Law. 2014.
9. Constitutional Issues. UB., 2017.
10. International Human Rights Covenants and Mongolia., Volume 2. UB., 2021. Page 891.