Earth Jurisprudence - History

History

The need for a new jurisprudence was first identified by Thomas Berry who identified the destructive anthropocentrism on which existing legal and political structures are based as a major impediment to the necessary transition to an ecological age in which humans would seek a new intimacy with the integral functioning of the natural world.

The feasibility of developing this jurisprudence (by then provisionally referred to as ‘Earth jurisprudence’) was discussed at meeting attended by Berry in April 2001, organised by the Gaia Foundation in London at the Airlie Conference Center outside Washington. A group of people involved in the law and with indigenous peoples came together from South Africa, Britain, Colombia, Canada and the United States. (See 'Thomas Berry and an Earth Jurisprudence: An Exploratory Essay', by Mike Bell, The Trumpeter, Vol. 19, no. 1 (2003)).

The first detailed exploration of Earth jurisprudence in print and the introduction of the term ‘Great Jurisprudence’ occurred with the first publication of Wild Law by Cormac Cullinan, launched at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in Cape Town 2002.

2004 workshop

April 2004, first UK workshop held to discuss and develop the principles of Earth jurisprudence, titled 'Wild Law Wilderness Workshop: A Walking Workshop on Earth Jurisprudence'. Donald Reid (former chairman of UKELA, the UK Environmental Law Association) and Cormac Cullinan (author of Wild Law) lead the workshop in the Knoydart Peninsula (one of the last true wilderness areas in the Scotland).

The feasibility of developing a new form of jurisprudence was discussed at a conference in Washington attended by Thomas Berry in April 2001, organised by the Gaia Foundation. A group of people involved with law and indigenous peoples attended from South Africa, Britain, Colombia, Canada and the United States.

In 2006 the first Center for Earth Jurisprudence established in Florida. The mission of the Centre, which is co-sponsored by Barry and St. Thomas Universities, Florida, is to re-envision law and governance in ways that support the well being of the Earth community as a whole. This involves fostering mutually enhancing relationships among humans and nature and recognition of the rights of nature.

Earth jurisprudence UK conference held in November 2006, 'A Walk on the Wild Side: Changing Environmental Law'. Based on the book Wild Law by Cormac Cullinan. Held at the University of Brighton and organised jointly by UKELA and ELF. Chaired by John Elkington (of SustainAbility and the ELF Advisory Council) with guest speakers, Cormac Cullinan, Norman Baker MP (former Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesman), Satish Kumar (Resurgence) and Begonia Filgueira (Gaia Law Ltd).

References:

• ELFLine is the quarterly newsletter of the Environmental Law Foundation, which reports on both the status of the Foundation and matters of general environmental interest. ELF was one of the organizers of the 2006 conference.
• The Gaia Foundation news
• News from Gaian Life, a company dedicated to improving both health and the environment through organic and eco-friendly lifestyles as well as scientific research and regeneration projects.
• John Elkington’s Journal recording the day he chaired the 2006 conference and to Cullinan’s book, Wild Law. Photo of speakers and others involved.
• Community Ecological Governance newsletter, No. 5 quarterly update October 2006

Earth jurisprudence open meeting, a formal evening of talk and discussion on 'Law and Governance from an Earth-Centred Perspective', November 2006. With Patricia Siemen, Director of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence, and colleagues Margaret Galiardi and Herman Greene. Liz Hosken, Director of the Gaia Foundation, gave a brief overview of the latest initiatives to further Earth jurisprudence thinking globally, as increasingly, given the rapidly deteriorating state of the planet, this idea of law is guiding and inspiring a number of legal departments in different parts of the world, from Ethiopia and Ghana, to the United States. Meeting chaired by Ian Mason, Head of Law and Economics at the School of Economic Science, London, and organised by the Gaia Foundation. Held at Denning Hall, north London.

2007 events

“Earth Jurisprudence: Defining the Field and Claiming the Promise”, a three-day colloquium on the principles and implications of the emerging field of Earth Jurisprudence. Cormac Cullinan of EnAct International, South Africa, Thomas Linzey and Richard Grossman both of Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, Pennsylvania, and Liz Hosken of Gaia Foundation, London, are amongst the speakers at the new Centre for Earth Jurisprudence in Florida, USA, April 2007.

UK conference and workshop, September 2007, entitled, “A ‘Wild Law’ Response to Climate Change”. A participatory event to develop a practical approach for applying Wild Law principles which are already helping shift legal processes in the US and South Africa. Organised by UK Environmental Law Association, in partnership with the Environmental Law Foundation and the Gaia Foundation, with funding from the Body Shop Foundation. Internationally renowned speakers will include Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the Center for Food Safety, Pennsylvania, who helped win a Supreme Court case in the USA on climate change; Cormac Cullinan, the South African lawyer and author of Wild Law; and Peter Roderick, Director of the Climate Justice Programme UK, a barrister with twenty years’ experience in private practise, the oil industry, academia and the public interest environmental sector, and was Friends of the Earth’s lawyer in London from 1996. Held at a conference centre in Derbyshire, UK.

References: UKELA next events.

An Earth Jurisprudence conference held in the USA in February 2008, in collaboration with the new Center for Earth Jurisprudence, and with students from Barry University Law School (Orlando, FL) and St. Thomas University Law School (Miami, FL).