#097 The Rapid Rise of Earth Laws & Breakthrough in First Law Recognition
with Dr Alessandro Pelizzon
There has been a rush this year of landmark court decisions on climate change, ruling on duties of care, emissions reductions, and other actions for corporations and governments, in Australia and around the world. It’s another sign this generation is changing things, and fast. And some of the broader change afoot is even more powerful than what’s hitting the headlines.
Dr Alessandro Pelizzon (pic supplied).
“First Law and colonial law already coexist. The question is not whether they can coexist, because they already are coexisting. The question is whether the colonial legal system is capable of understanding that coexistence, and recognising that pluralism already exists. It’s not something that needs to be achieved, it’s something that needs to be recognised.”
This is one of those rapid systemic developments we can easily take for granted. In just over a decade we have witnessed the incredible rise in ecological jurisprudence and the rights of nature. The notion of ecocide is now being officially tabled, there are a number of famous instances of rivers being granted legal rights, and all this is just the tip of the iceberg.
In just twelve years it’s gone from whether this could happen, to how it can best happen. And just a few years ago, out of a conversation between today’s guest and Nyikina elder Dr Anne Poelina, a concept was landed upon that just might unlock the door to colonial law finally recognising First Law. And more profoundly still, in a way that involves us all in understanding the depths of what that means, the enormous gifts it offers, and how it might just end up transforming everything.
Dr Alessandro Pelizzon is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University. He is one of the founding members of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and the Australian Earth Laws Alliance, he has been an expert member of the UN Harmony with Nature programme, and supported the drafting of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva. Alessandro has been exploring the emerging phenomenon of rights of nature, Wild Law and Earth Jurisprudence since its inception.
This conversation was recorded on 2 September 2021, with thanks to the team at the Derby Media Aboriginal Corporation for the use of their studio.
Get more:
For an hilarious and poignant connection with this episode, listen back from about the 28-minute mark of my conversation with Margo Neale in episode 93, ‘Songlines’, on how First Law was made.
Alessandro’s music choices were Souad Massi & Faun.
Music:
The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra
The tune with the introduction is by Jeremiah Johnson.
Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.