Madras (India) High Court Case: personhood for the Thamirabarani river
In July 2026, the Madras High Court of India recognized the personhood of the Tamirabarani river on the basis that "She is a deity" and cannot be polluted.Read More →
Asia
This page identifies ecological jurisprudence initiatives that exist in Asia. For the purposes of delineating boundaries, we define Asia to include the countries in the Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia, and Russia.
Kyrgyzstan Criminal Code (1997): ecocide
In 1997, the Kyrgyz Republic codified the crime of ecocide in its Criminal Code.Read More →
Tajikistan Criminal Code (1998): ecocide
In 1998, Tajikistan formally recognized ecocide at the national level by including provisions in its Criminal Code addressing severe environmental destruction.Read More →
India Ecocide Law
On December 5, 2025, the Ecocide (Prevention and Accountability) Bill, 2025 was introduced in the Parliament of India by Sujeet Kumar.Read More →
Turkey Ecocide Law
In March 2025, a bill to amend the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237 of 2004 to include a crime of ecocide, was submitted to the national assembly.Read More →
Gujarat (India) High Court Case: Abdulkadar Mohamad Azam Sheikh v State of Gujarat
In 2010, the High Court of Gujarat in India ruled in favor of a case against the captivity of birds that the court determined constituted curel treatment and viRead More →
Infanta (Philippines) Municipal Ordinance: rights of the Agos River and Sierra Madre
In November 2022, the Infanta municipal government in the Philippines adopted the country’s first Rights of Nature law recognizing the rights of the Agos River.Read More →
Jeju Island (South Korea) Law: rights of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin
A bill recognizing the rights of the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin was submitted to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province in South Korea in December 2024.Read More →