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41 Vt. L. Rev. 129 (2016-2017)
Building an Alternative Jurisprudence for the Earth: The International Rights of Nature Tribunal

handle is hein.journals/vlr41 and id is 137 raw text is: 





BUILDING AN ALTERNATIVE JURISPRUDENCE FOR THE
   EARTH: THE INTERNATIONAL RIGHTS OF NATURE
                            TRIBUNAL

       Dr. Michelle Maloney,  Australian Earth Laws Alliance*t


INTRODUCTION.        ................................................. 129
I. THE INTERNATIONAL  TRIBUNAL  FOR THE RIGHTS OF
NATURE  AND  MOTHER  EARTH       .............................. ...... 130
II. EARTH JURISPRUDENCE, WILD  LAW, AND  THE RIGHTS
OF NATURE.         ............................................. ....... 131
III. THE GLOBAL ALLIANCE  AND ITS CREATION  OF THE
INTERNATIONAL   RIGHTS OF NATURE  TRIBUNAL      ..................... 135
IV. REGIONAL  CHAMBERS   OF THE INTERNATIONAL  RIGHTS
OF NATURE  TRIBUNAL:  THE EXAMPLE   OF AUSTRALIA'S
RIGHTS OF NATURE   TRIBUNAL            .............................. ...... 136
V. PEOPLES' TRIBUNALS  IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES  .................. 139
CONCLUSION:  THE  POSSIBLE IMPACTS  OF RIGHTS OF
NATURE  TRIBUNALS         ..................................... ....... 141


                            INTRODUCTION

    In January 2014, members of the civil society network, Global Alliance
for the Rights of Nature, held the world's first International Tribunal for the
Rights of Nature  and  Mother  Earth (International Tribunal) in Quito,
Ecuador. Since that time, the International Tribunal has met in Lima, Peru
and Paris, France in parallel with the Conference of Parties for UN climate
change negotiations, and Regional Chambers of the International Tribunal
have  been  held in the United  States and Australia.' Given that the
International Tribunal has emerged from civil society rather than state-
centered international law, and given that countries like Australia and the
United States do not recognize, in State or Federal law, the intrinsic rights
of plants, animals, or ecosystems to exist, what possible benefits do Rights



       * Dr. Michelle Maloney is the National Convenor of the Australian Earth Laws Alliance
(www.earthlaws.org.au) and is based in Brisbane, Australia. She can be contacted on
convenor@earthlaws.org.au.
        t The author would like to thank Gill Boehringer for reading an early draft of this article,
and Stephanie Griffin for assisting with research about Permanent Peoples' Tribunals. Your support is
greatly appreciated.
      1. International Rights of Nature Tribunal, GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR RTs. NATURE,
http://therightsofnature.org/rights-of-nature-tribunal (last visited Nov. 23, 2016).

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