The river that got its own lawyer

Because a river obviously can't speak for itself, the law appoints a guardianguardiana person or group given legal authority to act and make decisions on someone else's behalf to bring cases on the river's behalf whenever it's polluted or drained.

The idea followed years of a factory dumping waste upstream with barely any penalty, because under the old rules only someone who could prove direct harm to themselves was allowed to sue.

Now, the river's guardians — a mix of local elders and environmental lawyers — have already filed their first case, against a company accused of taking more water than its permit allows.

Similar rivers-with-rights laws exist in only a handful of countries so far, and legal experts say this case will be closely watched to see whether the idea actually holds up in court.

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