We provide a descriptive comparative analysis of features related to emergence and design among 14 Rights of Nature (RoN) case studies worldwide. For analysis, we develop a schematic roadmap in which ...we categorise RoN into case studies with public guardianship and ones with appointed guardians (termed Environmental Legal Personhoods (ELPs) with further sub-categories of indirect, direct and living ELPs). Our findings suggest that RoN case studies emerged under similar circumstances where existing governance structures had been unable to protect natural environments from continued economic (urban, agricultural and industrial) activity by multiple economic actors. The strong role of local community and Indigenous Peoples in advocacy for RoN point to a divide between in situ communities and external economic agents, allowing for eco-centric value systems to emerge in juxtaposition to existing governance structures. We find that the design of RoN, however, varies in geographical entity, legal framework, legal status and guardianship. Poorly defined liability of guardians and economic agents have led to the overturning of two case studies, which stands in contrast to well-defined rights and liabilities in other case studies, suggesting that attention to liability may be an important building block for the effectiveness of RoN to protect biodiversity.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) systems raises dilemmas regarding their moral and legal status. Can artificial intelligence possess moral status (significance)? And under what ...conditions? Can one speak of the dignity of artificial intelligence as the basis of its moral status? According to some authors, if there are entities who have the capacities on which the dignity of human beings is based, they would also possess intrinsic dignity. If dignity is not an exclusive feature of human beings, such status also could be recognised by artificial intelligence entities. The first part of the paper deals with the problem of moral status of artificial intelligence and the conditions that must be fulfilled for such a status to be recognised. A precondition for the existence of moral status of artificial intelligence is its ability to make autonomous decisions. This part of the paper considers whether developing autonomous AI is justified, or, as some authors suggest, the creation of AI agents capable of autonomous action should be avoided. The recognition of the moral status of artificial intelligence would reflect on its legal status. The second part of the paper deals with the question of justifiability of ascribing legal personhood to the AI agents. Under what conditions would recognition of legal personhood by the artificial intelligence be justified and should its legal subjectivity be recognised in full scope or only partially (by ascribing to the AI agents a “halfway-status,” as some authors suggest)? The current state of the legal regulation of artificial intelligence will be observed as well.
•While drawing global attention at the time, the major anti-dam movements of the 1980s-2000s were mostly unsuccessful and unlikely to be replicated.•The three most prominent anti-dam movements showed ...a progression from being basically secular to being powered essentially by conservative Hinduism.•Meanwhile, river quality deteriorates as demand for hydropower to support economic growth continues to expand.•The recent effort to obtain legal personhood for rivers, though currently stalled, shows promise as a longer-term strategy to save India's rivers.•ADDED on 10 march 2023 a hypothesis regarding factors needed to halt major dam construction is tested and found inapplicable in the cases presented.
In recent decades, India's environment has been severely compromised by riverine pollution combined with large-scale dams and exacerbated by diversion for irrigation. Most prominent among the rivers so affected has been the Ganges and its tributaries in northern India, which for Hindus include the country's most sacred bodies of water. This paper examines three campaigns opposing dam construction, arguably the most widely publicized and analyzed efforts of this kind since independence in 1947. One campaign was essentially secular with virtually no religious component, the second mostly secular with some religious support, and the third almost totally a religious initiative. In the end, only the third attained any real success, and that rested on circumstances unlikely to be replicated. The possibility that future campaigns of this scale can be taken up again appears remote.
Meanwhile, riverine pollution has continued to increase everywhere despite massive governmental programs to reduce it. Theoretically, it would seem that environmentalists and Hindu devotees with their veneration of nature should be able to work in common cause to reduce pollution, but any large-scale cooperation seems unlikely between these two disparate realms. More recently an effort to protect rivers by endowing them with legal personhood enjoyed an initial success, holding the promise that lawsuits could be brought on behalf of a river against those polluting it. The paper concludes that while the legal personhood strategy is currently stalled, it offers the best chance for eventual success in attenuating riverine pollution. In the course of the paper, a comparative theoretical framework for assessing anti-dam protests will be tested.
What I propose in the present article are some theoretical adjustments for a more coherent answer to the legal "status question" of artificial intelligence (AI) systems. I arrive at those by using ...the new "bundle theory" of legal personhood, together with its accompanying conceptual and methodological apparatus as a lens through which to look at a recent such answer inspired from German civil law and named
or partial legal capacity. I argue that partial legal capacity is a possible solution to the status question only if we understand legal personhood according to this new theory. Conversely, I argue that if indeed
lends itself to being applied to AI systems, then such flexibility further confirms the bundle theory paradigm shift. I then go on to further analyze and exploit the particularities of
to inform a reflection on the appropriate conceptual shape of legal personhood and suggest a slightly different answer from the bundle theory framework in what I term a "gradient theory" of legal personhood.
A landmark political decision recognising the legal personhood of a river provides insights into how legal pluralism may evolve and how relationships with non‐human nature may be recognised into the ...future. The decision in respect of the Whanganui River in Aotearoa/New Zealand, although not a legal precedent, has resulted in a new and vital Māori/Pākehā legal arrangement, which, in addressing the injustices of the country's colonial history, may also address environmental challenges such as resource exploitation. Since colonisation in 1840, the Māori of the Whanganui River have been fighting to assert their rights in relation to the river. The 1840 Treaty of Waitangi, made between Māori chiefs and British colonisers as the basis of future governance in Aotearoa/New Zealand, was flawed due to differences between the Māori and English versions of the Treaty. Conflicting expectations regarding the constitution and administration of “law” emerged, as did incompatibilities between Māori and English ontologies, particularly involving interactions between humans and (non‐human) nature. In 1975, a tribunal was established to resolve Māori grievances regarding application of the principles of the Waitangi Treaty. In 1999, the Tribunal settled Claim 167 (known as Wai 167, after the Tribunal), recognising Māori ownership of the Whanganui River. Subsequent negotiations resulted in declaration of the river's legal personhood; the enacting legislation was passed on 20 March 2017. An association of place‐based law and the dominant legal system has been instigated. This paper explores how this less anthropocentric approach, in an era commonly called the “Anthropocene” due to the influence of humans on planet Earth, has a critical role to play in environmental management, particularly in relation to water.
Avatars, or digital representations of ourselves in the Metaverse are often seen as a fun and unique aspect of virtual worlds, but the legal implications of their use — and potential misuse— remain ...largely unexplored. In this paper, I address various issues relating to the utilization of avatars in online virtual platforms by individuals, highlighting both their potential benefits advantages and potential problems. In that context, I provide a very much needed clarification of what the Metaverse entails, and I propose a Private Law-oriented framework for thinking and regulating certain aspects of digital avatars in a legally feasible manner.
Points out that treaty settlements demonstrate that New Zealand's legal system today is adaptable. Backgrounds tikanga Māori as a legal system stemming from the lands and waters of Aotearoa New ...Zealand. Spotlights opportunities to reform state environmental law, principally the Resource Management Act, to find the best solutions for protecting nature and helping the nation. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
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