Natural Rights Research Articles

Unlawful acts against the rights of nature and environmental impact

The evolution of mankind, driven by developments in society, science, and technology, has had a significant impact on Mother Earth or nature, resulting in serious effects on the environment, ecosystems, and biodiversity. This research critically analyses illicit acts that violate the rights of nature and assesses their environmental impact. To achieve this, we employed an approach that incorporates inductive, dogmatic, historical-logical, and descriptive legal methods through a non-experimental design. The research results show a concerning lack of respect for the rights of nature in Ecuador. Furthermore, the inadequate control of illegal acts, including the endorsement of deforestation and the illegal and irresponsible extraction of natural resources, are causing a substantial negative impact on the environment, ecosystems, flora, and fauna.

The Illusion of Harmony: Power, Politics, and Distributive Implications of Rights of Nature

AbstractThis article argues that the Rights of Nature (RoN) framework is compatible with various ideological outlooks and political options. As a result, those initiatives may translate into extremely diverse institutional implementations with contrasted outcomes in terms of power distribution. The institutional design of RoN has deep political implications for various social groups who hold conflicting claims over certain territories. Hence, rather than transforming human-nature relations, RoN primarily transform the power relations between human communities. I delve into three conceptual frameworks that could shape the recognition of RoN and explore their respective distributive implications: green colonialism, environmental justice, and the focus on Indigeneity. Through this critical engagement, I wish to warn against the illusion of a post-political ecology where an ecocentric legal declaration would deliver human-nature harmony without deep political battles, social tensions, and economic confrontations. RoN as an abstract notion does not offer a ready-made toolkit to dismantle the legal architecture of fossil capitalism; nor does it provide clear guidance on the distribution of costs and benefits of the green transition.

The Right to Occupy: Moral Economies of Occupation and Social Housing in Urban Brazil

Abstract Current research on Brazilian vacant buildings where squatters live tends to paint a familiar picture: the occupants are united in struggle, resolute in their understanding that squatting is within their constitutional, legal, and natural rights. However, drawing on new data from Rio de Janeiro, we argue that researchers have an incomplete understanding of this process. Our findings reveal considerable ideological variation among occupants regarding their rights to occupy abandoned property, including their understandings of private ownership versus the social function of property. In our analysis, we explain this ideological variation through what we call “moral economies of occupation.” Specifically, we focus on lived experiences of losing or being excluded from secure housing and the remembered role that the state played in that lived experience. This, we argue, is crucial for understanding why some occupants believe in their rights to squat while others doubt it.

Tracing the Roots of Modern Human Rights in Ancient Greek Thought

The establishment of the modern human rights regime, a pivotal development that transpired in the aftermath of the Second World War, marks a watershed moment in the annals of global governance. However, it is imperative to recognize that the foundational bedrock upon which this regime stands embodied by concepts such as freedom, equality, the right to vote, and the notion of natural rights extends its roots far beyond the mid-20th century. These bedrock principles have an intricate lineage, manifesting in various forms throughout history and across diverse cultures. To unravel this historical continuum, one need not look solely to the post-World War II era; rather, a profound exploration reveals that analogous ideals have left indelible imprints across different countries and epochs. Among these cultural tapestries, ancient Greece emerges as a particularly rich and influential backdrop, offering a plethora of ideas that resonate with the very essence of contemporary human rights. In an earnest pursuit of understanding the intricate interplay between ancient wisdom and modern conceptions, the present paper embarks on an insightful examination. Through a meticulous study, it endeavors to illuminate the myriad ideas and features that emanated from ancient Greece, serving as pre-cursors to, and reflections of, the multifaceted concept of human rights as it is comprehended and cherished in our present-day global discourse.

The Role of Islam in Alleviating Poverty: An Analytical Study

Poverty is an undesirable social phenomenon whose existence and expansion in society lead to all-around miserable consequences in the short and long term. This ominous phenomenon is condemned in all human religions and cultures, and various ways and methods have been proposed to eradicate it from society. Islam considers a life with prosperity and peace as the natural right of human beings and confronts the obstacles to the realization of this goal. Therefore, it gives teachings to its followers that, by following them, they will enjoy a life of full joy and contention, and their physical and mental health will be guaranteed. Undoubtedly, poverty is one of the biggest concerns of all human societies and economic systems. Poverty is one of the negative phenomena that pose a threat to life. Economic schools of thought have presented different ways to deal with it, but so far, they have not yet succeeded in eliminating poverty from human lives. Its occurrence is called an unpleasant complication. Poverty is one of the most important long-standing issues in developed and developing countries, including Islamic countries. To solve the problem of poverty, many studies have studied the factors affecting poverty. The purpose of this research is to identify the role of Islam in reducing poverty. In the question of the research, it is stated that what is the role of Islam in reducing poverty, and what are its recommendations for reducing poverty? The research method in this study is descriptive-analytical, and the required information was collected from library sources and a combination of the Delphi method.

Beyond legal personhood for the Whanganui River: collaboration and pluralism in implementing the Te Awa Tupua Act

ABSTRACT There is now a large body of scholarly literature on the legal and governance arrangements for the Whanganui River in Aotearoa New Zealand, given the rights of a legal person under Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017. Most of this literature focuses on the innovation of legal personhood and rights of nature rather than situating the Act in its local context or examining its implementation in practice. This article analyzes two cases of implementation – Te Pūwaha (the revitalisation of the Port of Whanganui); and Te Kōpuka nā Te Awa Tupua, the collaborative group charged with developing a strategy for the river. We shift attention away from legal personality to three other elements: The centrality of Māori kawa (value-based, Indigenous law); the establishment of a comprehensive set of new institutions and practices; and the devolution of authority to hapū (subtribes) and communities. These elements represent a paradigm shift towards a relational and reciprocal form of governance. While Te Awa Tupua Act does have some alignment with rights of nature, it should primarily be understood as recognising Indigenous rights and the authority of Indigenous law.

Hierarchy of Ethical Principles for the use of Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Healthcare

The article researches the problem of ethical support of the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine and healthcare, which is topical for modern sci­ence. Despite a significant number of foreign and domestic publications devoted to the topic of AI, the conceptual justification of the ethics of AI application in medicine and healthcare remains poorly developed. Relying on international recommendations and articles, as well as on their own experience of research activities, work in research ethics committees, the results of a pilot survey of health care workers, etc., the authors define and analyze the basic ethical principles of using AI in medicine and health care. The proposed principles are considered in the context of their practical application to protect human and natural rights and interests, which includes preservation of patient confidentiality, prevention of discrimination, protection from AI errors, respect for in­formed consent, as well as compliance with the norms of “open science”, mutual trust of developers and users, etc. The proposed principles are analyzed in the context of their practical application. The application of the proposed principles will orient scientists, AI developers, ethical committees conducting expert review of research, society as a whole to the priorities of humanization of healthcare, respect for human beings and nature, as well as to educate society, create a regulatory framework, ethical recommen­dations and codes of ethics for the use of AI in medicine and healthcare.

The socio-economic impacts of artisanal mining on ordinary villagers in Insiza District, Zimbabwe

This study sought to understand how ordinary villagers in the artisanal mining areas of Insiza District, where Emthonjeni Women's Forum implemented a program titled ‘Women as strategic partners in peacebuilding’, are affected by the violence and conflicts emanating from the illegal and artisanal mining in the proximities of their villages. The project sought to strengthen resilience, social cohesion and women's security in socio economic and political conflict as well as strengthening knowledge of local women and traditional leaders on the referral pathways of addressing GBV, including the strengthening of stakeholder coordination in conflict mitigation, transformation and resolution. While men, boys, girls and women all experience violence in varying degrees, it was found that women feel the effects of violence and conflict the most as they experience it as direct victims, and vicariously when their husbands or sons participate in violent activities. This is because they bring their troubles home to the wives or mothers who often have to address the problems or live with the consequences of the men's actions. Gender is often one of the key determinants of what social spaces and opportunities might be available or not available to society or family. Therefore, people's vulnerability is shaped by their gender although other factors may also contribute to it. Most societies are constructed in such a way that women and children have the least power and natural rights and are therefore regarded as weak and powerless. They are especially vulnerable to violence as they are often unable to defend themselves or outrun perpetrators of violence. Lawlessness and violence in wards one and two of Insiza District, as in most parts of the country, are driven mostly by groups of armed young men—often ‘outsiders’, those who are not ordinarily residents of the two wards or from Insiza in general, who appear to act with impunity.

Rights of Nature? Shifting Patterns in Environmental Constitutionalism1

Abstract The article outlines improvements in environment and climate protection in constitutional law and practice all over the world, examining constitutional texts, case law and constitution-like legislation. A legal standing of individuals to defend the environment is increasingly added to programmatic provisions addressed to public authorities. In some cases Nature is granted legal personality. The latter innovation connects well to traditions established in the global South, where it was introduced first, but not so to legal systems of the Occident, where it was recently introduced for the first time. In strictly legal terms the effects of this innovation can also be achieved by classical legal instruments, while its metaphoric dimension promises a change in people’s attitudes towards nature. A second innovation concerns the shift from an anthropocentric to a bio-cultural or ecocentric approach. This would render constitutional law on the environment fully effective and convey a substantive meaning to a personalised concept of Nature. Such a development is, however, uncertain. The rights of Nature risk remaining trapped in anthropocentric categories of subject and object of law when transposed to Occidental legal thinking and practice. To avoid such inadvertent contradictions, the article pleads for reconciling both approaches by seeking more equilibrium in the Human-Nature relationship.

Rights of nature and rivers in Ecuador’s Constitutional Court

ABSTRACT The article analyses a series of decisions by the Constitutional Court of Ecuador on the rights of nature generally, and the rights of rivers and water bodies specifically. The selected cases are a representative sample of other similar ones and allow for uncovering the logic behind the Court's reasoning in general. The analysis focuses on four major themes. First, the importance of context in discussions of the rights of nature and water is demonstrated through the grounding of the analysis in the specific Ecuadorian context, and highlighting the value of this approach. Second, it engages with the concept of judicial activism, thus bringing a much-needed discussion to the wider literature on water and nature rights. Third, it details the concept of nature that is used in the Court's reasoning. Lastly, it traces the relationship between human rights and the rights of nature, specifically through a discussion of the relative importance of Indigenous law in establishing rights of nature jurisprudence in Ecuador. Perhaps surprisingly, given the general thrust of the literature so far, it shows that Indigenous law has been minimally important in this case. In engaging with these themes, the paper lays a fruitful basis for future comparative research that can bring more clarity and nuance to discussions of the rights of nature elsewhere.

“Every Planter Has Become an Enlightened Politician”

Abstract Despite much scholarship on the plantation economy, little attention has been paid to planter political rhetoric in colonial Haiti. By analyzing planter petitions, several lawsuits, and the colonial doléances of 1788–89, this article shows how landed proprietors harnessed natural rights jurisprudence and, in particular, Lockian ideas regarding the sacred right of private property. They argued for a set of collective rights both for planters as a group and for the colony as a whole. This was done to undermine the notion that enslaved people, as human beings, constituted a special form of property and thus to assert planters' absolute sovereignty to manumit their slaves at will. This idea was transposed into a claim that only the colony, not the metropole, could determine the timing of slave emancipation. Planters articulated a concept of liberalism that stood at odds with the universalist claims of equality inspired by the French Revolution.

THE VIOLENCE IN CONFLICT OF NATURAL RESOURCES TENURE RIGHTS- COMPANIES VS TRADITIONAL COMMUNITIES IN INDONESIA

Over the past 12 years, the escalation of violence in conflicts arising from disputes over natural resource management rights between corporations and indigenous communities has become a growing concern across all regions of Indonesia. This abstract introduction highlights the urgent need to address the rising tensions and clashes associated with the competing claims to and utilization of natural resources in the country. Therefore, this study aimed to analyse the causes of violence and conflict resolution over natural resources using an empirical legal study with a socio-legal approach adopted through a case study in Bengkulu Province, Indonesia. Informants for the study were selected using a snowball sampling technique, ensuring a diverse and representative range of perspectives. Secondary data was obtained through a literature study by tracing information from journals, books, and the internet, and data analysis was carried out qualitatively. Furthermore, an analysis was performed on the findings of other studies concerning instances of violence in conflicts related to forest and mining resources. This research found that (1). The violence occurred because the company did not respect the customary community’s natural resource control rights. (2). However, violence can be stopped through violence or mediation (3). Resolution of violence in conflict can only be done through mediation. The authors recommend that: (1). The practice of resolving violence in conflicts of rights over natural resources through mediation needs to be strengthened by the government to realize justice for all. (2). In indigenous communities, apart from state law, the legal landscape is still heavily influenced by customary law and religious law.

A CONCEPÇÃO CONTEMPORÂNEA DOS DIREITOS HUMANOS

This work aims to present and discuss the contemporary conception of human rights theory. Based on the defense of the dignity of the human person, human rights are the result of conquests throughout history, having taken effect in the international order since the end of the Second World War, when the United Nations (UN) promulgated the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Human Rights, in 1948, when this document became the normative framework for humanitarian protection worldwide. The aforementioned Declaration provides for a set of rights belonging to every human person, regardless of nationality, race, sex, religion or any other characteristic. Among these rights are the right to life, freedom, food, work, among others, which underpin a dignified existence. In contemporary theory, although there are various ways of designating human rights, such as "human rights", "individual rights", "fundamental rights", natural rights ", among others, these expressions have the same meaning. However, the majority doctrine essentially distinguishes two terminologies as to its scope: “human rights”, which are used to define the rights established by international law; and “fundamental rights”, which Brazil, in the text of the 1988 Federal Constitution. In methodological terms, this article is a review study, categorized as research qualitative (as to nature), descriptive (as to objective) and bibliographic (as to object).

Leo Strauss: a political realist?

ABSTRACT Leo Strauss's approach to politics may indeed be regarded as realist. Some traits of his thought, however, seem to align him to an opposite, idealist tendency. Among these are Strauss's criticism of the moderns for their rejection of the political philosophy of the classics on the grounds of its being utopian and his attention toward the concept of natural right. This article shows how these traits, which at first glance oppose the classification of Strauss as a political realist, can be traced back to a framework that is able to lessen, and even overturn, the apparently idealistic character of his thought. In doing so, it delves into Strauss's understanding of ancient utopianism - notably, of the best city described in Plato's Republic - and his criticism of the modern interpretation thereof. Explaining why Strauss regarded such an interpretation as based on a fundamental misunderstanding, the article emphasizes the role played by the Biblical tradition in turning philosophy from a theoretical way of life into a practical pursuit in the service of the political sphere. This also sheds light on Strauss's twofold definition of political philosophy as both the philosophical treatment of politics and the 'political' (i.e. rhetorical) introduction to philosophy.

Brave New World? Care and Custody of Children at the Court for Divorce and Matrimonial Causes in Mid-Victorian England

Abstract This article considers the accessibility and impact of the mid-Victorian divorce court’s new custody powers, by tracing the children of those who petitioned the court within the first two years of the court’s establishment and contrasting this with court pleadings and orders. Focusing on the care of children by location as revealed by the census and other sources, this study then deals in more detail with individual cases to illustrate the experience of parties in divorce court processes for child custody. This study generates an original data set to find that, whereas the majority of resident female petitioners sought a custody order in the petition, only a minority ended up with an order. Three broad issues are addressed: the gendered nature of rights in respect of children on marital breakdown, the implications of legal remedies being accessed through male gatekeepers, and the exercise of discretion at the newly opened divorce court.

Trajectories of Post-Sustainability

AbstractFaced with climate change and other ecological crises, sustainability has become an inescapable normative framework for organizations and societies worldwide. However, it conceals very different practices and imaginaries of a sustainable future. Firstly, this article introduces the three imaginaries of modernization, transformation, and control and explores what chances of implementation these trajectories have. Modernization is the dominant path driven by governments and corporations, transformation efforts by civil society actors are marginalized, and control is currently becoming more influential as a trajectory in the wake of a renaissance of strong nation-states. Secondly, this article works out the idea that sustainability, in the sense of an open future, is no longer achievable. Too many ecological burdens already exist, or can no longer be averted, so much so that one should be speaking instead about the politics of post-sustainability. It is highly probable that catastrophes and social collapses can no longer be prevented, and a rapid decarbonization of economies and societies in the coming years is so unlikely that the question thus arises as to how positive visions of the future for living together can still be derived from this. Finally, using the example of the rights of nature, it is discussed how there can, nevertheless, be forms of conviviality that could (albeit slowly) grow out of the multiple social and ecological crises and which are based on an amalgam of modernization, transformation, and control.

Libertarianizm, sceptycyzm jusnaturalistyczny i argument z uzasadnionego użycia siły

The article analyses the argument from the justified use of force, put forward against jusnaturalist skepticism by Stephan Kinsella. This argument is intended to show that skepticism about natural rights has become entangled in a performative contradiction, because in order to prove that no natural rights exist, it must assume the existence of such rights. The defeat of jusnaturalist skepticism, in turn, is to prove apagogically the existence of natural rights, including the libertarian private property rights. The article shows, using Hohfeld’s analysis method, that the anti-skeptical argument from the justified use of force does not achieve its goals.

ДЕЯКІ МІРКУВАННЯ ПРО НАЦІОНАЛЬНИЙ ЗАХИСТ ГРОМАДЯНСЬКИХ ПРАВ ЛЮДИНИ

The doctrinal and normative legal definitions of the concept of human civil rights, as well as national guarantees for the provision of civil rights, their types and possible ways of improvement are considered in the article. The authors analyze the concept, legal and philosophical basis of the implementation of human rights in the international and national aspect, relying on the texts of international documents, as well as the scientific research of foreign and Ukrainian scientists in the fields of the theory of the state and law, international law and constitutional law. The authors believe that the concept of human rights and, in particular, human civil rights, has not been unchanged throughout its history, and if at the first stages of its development it was connected with a person's belonging to the state ("citizenship"), it gradually almost lost this connection . An analysis of the modern meaning of the concept of "civil rights" shows that the modern Ukrainian translation of the title of the 1966 Covenant: "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights" is misleading, ambiguous and does not reflect the essence of the concept of "civil human rights" in international context. There is a possibility that Ukrainian legal science will find another equivalent of the term "civil rights" in the sense of basic human rights. As a possible option, a fairly meaningful replacement option is offered - "fundamental (essential) human rights and freedoms according to P.M. Rabinovych. The authors draw attention to the fact that the concept of national guarantees of ensuring civil rights is not always given by scientists. To them in the broad sense should be attributed state, that is, which belong to this country and concern its people, reflect its character, features and social activity, positively acting conditions and means that ensure their actual implementation. Since the natural rights of a person and a citizen, enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine, are not exhaustive, an important guarantee of the protection of these rights should become a modern understanding of spiritual values. Keywords: civil rights, natural rights, basic civil rights, fundamental (essential) human rights and freedoms, national guarantees of ensuring civil rights.

A Battle for the Nation's Rights’? Past, Present and Future Public Service Media in Wales

AbstractAs in other UK nations, public service broadcasting (PSB) is facing an uncertain future in Wales as a result of threats to funding from government and competition from streaming services and other content providers. Partly because of this, calls for the devolution of broadcasting powers have intensified over the past couple of years to the point where it is now an aim of the Welsh government to see such powers being transferred to Cardiff from Westminster. In a nation of two languages and two cultures, PSB has played, and continues to play, a crucial role in Welsh life—but for how long?

Rights of Nature: Who Holds Them? A Plain Language Legal Guide for Earth Citizens

Rights of Nature: Who Holds Them? A Plain Language Legal Guide for Earth Citizens