The rights-of-nature movement emerged as a response to economic pressures on ecosystems. But the success of projects depends on how well legal liability is defined.
If a new declaration based on customary concepts of tikanga and mana is recognised by the courts, it could potentially give interest groups the legal standing to sue on behalf of whales.
Spencer and Gabby Goidel hadn’t planned to become activists.
Spencer and Gabby Goidel
I’m a scholar, not an activist or an advocate. But now one of the most intimate, personal events of our lives had been turned into a political event by the state’s highest court.
If AIs are going to play a role in society, they’ll need to understand the law.
PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock via Getty Images
A few marine mammals in apparent revolt pushed meme-makers into overdrive. But a scholar who thinks about justice and human-animal relations suggests something deeper is behind the schadenfreude.
Americans have come to expect abundant clean water, but there are many stressors on water quality and availability.
Jessica/flickr
A webinar hosted by The Conversation brings together experts in law, health, policy and Indigenous affairs to explain some of the most pressing problems related to water in the US.
A legal loophole could grant computer systems many legal rights people have – threatening human rights and dignity and setting up some real legal and moral problems.
The Whanganui River: now a legal person.
Joerg Muller/Ulanwp/Wikimedia Commons
New Zealand’s Whanganui River and the Ganga and Yamuna Rivers in India have been given the right to ‘sue’ over issues like pollution. The challenge now is to ensure these legal rights are enforced.
The forest around Lake Waikaremoana in New Zealand has been given legal status of a person because of its cultural significance.
Paul Nelhams/flickr
A New York State Supreme Court has declined to recognise the personhood of two chimpanzees being used by Stony Brook University for research. But the case is far from over.
Marlise’s husband and parents say her body is being used as an incubator.
Image from shutterstock.com
In November, 33-year-old Texas woman Marlise Munoz collapsed at her Fort Worth home after suffering a suspected blood clot in her lungs. She was later declared brain dead. When the hospital determined…
Mothers are best placed to make decisions about what to do with the life within them.
Flickr/Peej's photos
A bill currently before the NSW Parliament attempts to criminalise harm to late-term foetuses that die due to injuries inflicted on their mother. But is foetal legal personhood the best way to recognise…