Giving mother nature a face
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet.” ~Romeo and Juliet Act II, Scene II
When William Shakespeare penned these words and breathed immortality into the lungs of his ill-fated, star-crossed lovers, it is safe to assume that the legal implication of what he said was not fully appreciated. A name and indeed, identity have far-reaching consequences for its bearer.
I had the pleasure of attending a lecture organised by Think Legal Bangladesh at the Capital’s EMK center on the 28th of January 2017. The lecture , which was on the topic “Legal Identity, Civil Registration, and Vital Statistics” was delivered by the Hon’ble Justice Naima Haider. On the issue in question one of the most stand out things that the Hon’ble judge said was “Legal identity refers to a human’s BEING.”
Legal Identity has been defined as referring to a “...human being’s legal (as opposed to physical) personality. Legal Identity allows persons to enjoy the legal system’s protection and to enforce their rights or demand redress for violations by accessing state institutions such as courts and law enforcement agencies.” (Legal Identity for Inclusive Development /ADB).
It is now time to alter the lens through which we view the issue of Legal Identity. What if, we could extend legal identity to Mother Nature? We are a country that is rich in a natural heritage that knows no equal. Our rivers and soil and all the wealth that flows in every intricate vein is an integral part of our very existence, culturally and economically. And yet, these very same conduits of life are under constant threat from the sin of greed and gluttony that seems to manifest themselves in the worst of ways in many of us.
This year around April, the parliament in New Zealand decided to grant the Whanganui River legal identity. The Te Awa Tupua ( Whanganui Claims Settlement ) Act, 2017 received royal assent on the 20th of March, 2017 and incorporates the Whanganui River Deed of Settlement which was signed on the 5th of August, 2017. The passing of this piece of unique legislation settled an age old dispute between the Government of New Zealand and the indigenous Iwi tribe as well as other tribes based on the river and environmentalists. The legislation grants legal identity to the river. What this implicates is that the entirety of the river and all its “physical and metaphysical elements” can be represented in a court of competent jurisdiction in much the same way as a human person. The Act grants that the River can be represented by two lawyers, one of which will be provided by the Crown and one from the tribes. This in turn means, greater enforceability in terms of legal redress and protection for the River.
Not soon after this innovative step (just five days!) on the 20th of March of this year, the Uttarakhand High Court declared finally that the Jamuna-Ganges river was a legal person in the case of Mohd. Salim v State of Uttarakhand and ors. (Writ Petition (PIL) No. 126 of 2014). This entails that if anyone or any entity performs an act that is detrimental to the integrity of the river and it tributaries, this would be equatable to harming a human person and would likewise be prosecuted. The Advocate-General and the Chief Secretary for the State of Uttarakhand and the Director of NAMAMI Gange were declared in the judgment to stand “in loco parentis” for the river, thus providing a “human face” to the river in all future legal disputes and assertions.
The indigenous peoples on the Whanganui have a saying “Ko au te awa. Ko te awa ko au” . This translates to, “I am the river. And the river is me”. Consider how important was this realization to a nation that it sought and succeeded in establishing this metaphysical principle into physical and legal reality. In today’s rat-race, it is easy to forget how intertwined we are with Nature and how the simple act of tossing an empty wrapper on the streets or into a pond or stream has such profound and unwelcome consequences into our own lives. We are a country of alluvium-rich rivers and lush and fertile fields, of forests and hills, and diverse mangroves. And these are constantly under threat from our own unscrupulous actions. In the end, any harm that is caused to a river will be harm directly and indirectly caused upon our own person and livelihoods. It is time to consider the bigger picture here -- Can we not consider giving a human face to our natural assets? We as citizens and the State have a sacred duty to consider and hopefully act upon this question in these times.
The writer is a Intern at The Legal Circle and doing LLM at Eastern University.