Rights of Nature and Indigenous Spirituality: A Case of Ecuador

This paper focuses on the Indigenous spirituality component of the Rights of Nature law, using Ecuador as an example. By approaching this issue from both theoretical and practical perspectives, this article asks how the Indigenous spirituality component may have an impact on the Rights of Nature law at issue and the legal system as a whole. From a theoretical perspective, the article shows that Indigenous spirituality as a legal reasoning is non-defeasible and non-balanceable. From a practical perspective, the article analyses one of the latest RoN cases in Ecuador – Los Cedros Forest Case (2021). At the heart of the article is the discussion of whether a legal concept with spiritual connotations can function as it is intended (with its spiritual connotations) while embedded in an anthropocentric modern legal system.