Year: 2024
Type: book-chapter
Abstract: The idea of considering gods as legal persons who can sue or be sued in a court of law has often been presented by both judicial milieus and academic literature as a legal fiction which allows gods to be granted the ownership of material property and to be the recipient of donations. But the involvement of a god in a court case has wide-ranging implications going far beyond the issue of temple property. It has a direct impact on ritual and temple practices. The chapter first presents some of the issues on which judges are called upon to decide regarding the question of the legal status of ritual images, and how these decisions may have an impact on ritual activity. It then examines two cases which show how the question of a god’s link to (or action on) natural resources may be raised in court and what legal and practical consequences it may entail.
Source: Routledge eBooks
Author: Daniela Berti
Institution: Patrimoines locaux, Environnement et Globalisation
Language: English
Topic: Environmental law and policy
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funder: Agence Nationale de la Recherche
OpenAlex ID: W4394881991