Systemic Legal Development – International Overview

Systemic Legal Development is a method developed in Germany in 2025 by Hans Leo Bader. It translates ecological constitutional duties – especially Art. 20a GG – into the daily practice of public administration. Instead of waiting for climate and biodiversity disasters to become court cases, the method uses preventive submissions to trigger internal learning processes of the state.

This page offers an international overview: What the method is, how it works, how it relates to Ontocentrism, and how the main cases (Hambach, Loisach / Murnau, Olympia) can be understood as laboratories of a learning rule of law.

1 · What is Systemic Legal Development?

Systemic Legal Development understands law as a learning system. It does not create new rights outside the constitution. Instead, it activates existing ecological duties of the state – especially Art. 20a GG, the German state objective on environmental protection – in the daily routines of ministries and agencies.

The method uses preventive submissions under § 13 VwVfG (German Administrative Procedure Act) as internal triggers: citizens submit structured information and constitutional arguments to the administration, asking the authority to self-check its decisions in the light of ecological integrity and intergenerational justice.

This method does not replace climate litigation or Rights of Nature approaches. It complements them by closing the implementation gap between high-level court rulings and the often narrow practice of day-to-day administrative decisions.

2 · Ontocentrism – The Connecting Principle

Ontocentrism is the philosophical backbone of Systemic Legal Development. The term was coined by Hans Leo Bader in 2025. It means that law is not an external power above “nature”, but a subsystem of the living world (Mitwelt) that depends on the ecological systems it regulates.

In practical terms, Ontocentrism asks a simple, radical question: Can a state function over time if it destroys the ecological systems that carry its society, economy and legal order? From this perspective, environmental protection is not an optional value but a functional necessity of a constitutional state.

3 · How Systemic Legal Development Works

The method follows a simple but precise sequence. It uses existing administrative law tools and reframes them in the light of Art. 20a GG:

• 1 · Preventive submission: Citizens submit a structured input under § 13 VwVfG to the competent authority, pointing to systemic ecological risks (e.g. groundwater, wetlands, large-scale mining, mega projects) and to the state’s duty under Art. 20a GG.
• 2 · Constitutional framing: The submission does not claim individual rights but activates the objective duty of the state to protect the natural life-support systems for present and future generations.
• 3 · Administrative response: The authority has to react – by clarifying its legal view, pointing to existing permits, or announcing further examinations. Each response becomes a diagnostic signal of how deeply Art. 20a GG is already integrated in its practice.
• 4 · Resonance cycle: Depending on the answer, follow-up submissions, scientific input or further legal steps can refine the examination. The process creates a transparent learning trail in the files: how the state understands its ecological duties and where it still falls short.
• 5 · Documentation & research: All relevant documents are published via Zenodo DOIs and integrated into the ongoing Systemic Legal Development Research Series.

4 · Key Cases – Laboratories of a Learning Rule of Law

Several pilot cases in Germany illustrate how the method works in practice. Short English summaries are provided here; detailed dossiers are available in German.

5 · International Relevance

For international audiences – UN processes, Rights of Nature networks, environmental NGOs and academic institutions – Systemic Legal Development offers a functional bridge between different approaches:

• It shows how a state can use its existing constitution (here: Art. 20a GG) to internalise ecological limits into daily administration, without waiting for new grand reforms or ideal political majorities.
• It complements Rights of Nature and climate litigation by addressing the inner operating system of the state: administrative routines, file work, internal justification and precaution.
• It offers a methodological vocabulary – including Ontocentrism and Systemic Legal Development – that can be adapted in other constitutional settings without copying specific German provisions.

6 · Resumen en español (corto)

Desarrollo Jurídico Sistémico es un método creado en Alemania en 2025 por Hans Leo Bader. No introduce nuevos derechos, sino que activa las obligaciones ecológicas ya existentes del Estado, en especial el artículo 20a de la Constitución alemana (Grundgesetz), dentro de la práctica cotidiana de la administración.

El método usa presentaciones preventivas (según § 13 VwVfG) como impulsos internos: la ciudadanía solicita que las autoridades revisen sus decisiones a la luz de los límites ecológicos, antes de que se produzcan daños irreversibles en ríos, humedales o bosques. Así se crean ciclos de aprendizaje documentados dentro del propio Estado, sin depender únicamente de demandas judiciales posteriores.

El concepto filosófico de Ontocentrismo afirma que el derecho forma parte del mundo vivo y depende de los sistemas ecológicos que sostiene. Por ello, la protección de la capacidad funcional de las bases naturales de la vida no es solo un valor, sino una condición funcional para la democracia y el Estado de derecho.

Los casos piloto – la mina de Hambach, los humedales de Murnau y el proyecto de los Juegos Olímpicos – muestran cómo un Estado puede aprender desde dentro a aplicar sus propias normas ecológicas de forma preventiva.