Jeju Island (South Korea) Law: rights of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin

Summary

In December 2024, a proposal to grant legal personhood rights to the Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin in Jeju Island, South Korea was introduced to the National Assembly. The bill would amend the “Special Act on the Establishment of Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Development of the Jeju Free International City” to recognize these species as “eco-legal entities, granting them certain rights and legal protections to ensure long-term ecological sustainability.” Other key provisions of the bill include formation of a committee to protect and advocate for these rights and establishment of funding mechanisms to support these efforts.

The formation of the Committee on Support for Eco-Legal Persons will consist of up to 10 members, including one chairperson, and be composed of local residents, ecological experts, representatives of environmental organizations, and government officials.

Since 2023, Jeju island’s government has been working to introduce Korea’s first-ever “eco legal personhood” system to protect Jeju’s environmental and ecological values and “set a new standard” for domestic ecological and environmental policies. In order to introduce the environmental personhood system, Jeju has been operating a working group composed of academics, lawyers, and experts to come up with a proposal.

“The introduction of the eco legal personhood system is an innovation to solve the common human challenge of overcoming the climate crisis and become a civilization where humans and nature coexist.” (Jeju Governor. Oh Young-hun)

Impact Statement

​​The initiative is currently under review by the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee. If passed, it would be the first instance of legal personhood for a natural entity in Korea—marking a historic shift in South Korea’s environmental policy and setting a new global precedent for recognizing the rights of nature at a local governance level.