Faculty Seminar | Why not nature Rights?
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
The seminar on ‘Why not nature Rights?’ was presented by Dr. Manjeri Subin, Assistant Professor (Ad-hoc), NLSIU.
Law has always been seen as recourse to weed out quite a large number of problems and environmental harm is no exception. Built on a large number of concepts that have been eulogised for many years, laws and legal systems, around the world, have helped in shaping the progress of mankind. ‘Rights’ and ‘Duties’ have always been seen as two important elements of law. These help understand as to why we need laws in the first place and create some sort of a basis for the laws that exist, by connecting them with the present day societal needs.
The exact amount in which both these concepts gel is one of the factors that determine as to how effective a legal system is. This helps in asserting supremacy of law and ensures that the spirit of law is never lost. While both these concepts have been treated as the two sides of a same coin, one cannot but help that one has been given a predominance over the other; at least by the general public. Rights, provided by the state, were envisaged in such a way that they were given in lieu of one surrendering himself to the sovereign. Such surrender however, was conditional. The state was to provide rights that are necessary and also afford protection. Thus, the system was one in which there was a mutually beneficial relationship.