Legal Dimensions of Rights of Nature Applied in the Context of the River Plym: River Plym Project Phase 1 Appendix

This review of the literature and legal framing of so-called river rights – loosely understood by reference to the extension of certain characteristics or a particular status upon the river – has been collated in the context of the River Plym-citizenship advocacy project. It aims to examine the legal and policy potential for the attribution of ‘rights’ upon the River Plym. It does so by outlining the challenges facing the waterway, in common with many others, and noting the limitations of the current regulatory systems applied to it. The paper then offers a commentary of legal alternatives to the current situation and explains the notion of granting rights to non-legal entities and provides examples of where that has been done across the globe.