The first was the workshop “Rights of Nature – Nature as a Subject,” which she co-organised and which took place on 26–27 March at the University of Hamburg on the premises of the DFG Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies “Futures of Sustainability.” Together with Felix Aiwanger (Max Planck Institute for comparative and international private law, Hamburg), Camilla Haake explored the connections between the rights of nature, animal rights, and human rights, and examined how these previously separate discourses might be more closely integrated in the future. She also moderated a session on fundamental questions concerning the subjectification of nature.

The following day, she participated as a speaker at the 2nd European Scientific Legal Tech Summit at WU (Vienna University of Economics and Business). In her talk, “HAL’s legacy?”, she examined the possible recognition of autonomous AI systems as legal subjects and analysed the implications of such “AI personhood” for legal practice and the protection of fundamental rights. She emphasised in particular the importance of close collaboration between legislators and technical experts for the responsible regulation of generative AI.

Both contributions highlight how closely ecological and technological developments are intertwined with fundamental legal questions: who or what can be a bearer of rights, and what consequences would this have for existing systems of protection?

At LBI-GMR, Camilla Haake’s research focuses, among other topics, on the “rights of nature” as well as the opportunities and challenges of recognising non-human legal subjects.