【经济学人】旺格努伊河有了“人权”丨 2017.03.25丨总第855期

IT SOUNDS, admits Chris Finlayson, like a “pretty nutty ” idea. Yet the new law that declares the Whanganui river, New Zealand’s third-longest, a legal person, in the sense that it can own property, incur debts and petition the courts, is not unprecedented . Te Urewera, an area of forested hills in the north-east that used to be a national park, became a person for legal purposes in 2014. And around the world companies, foundations and assorted units of government have legal rights and responsibilities independent of the people who staff them. （读者试译句） All the same, New Zealanders have been joking about whether the Whanganui might now vote, buy a few beers (how old is it?) or be charged with murder if a swimmer drowns.

克里斯芬雷森承认，这听起来的确是个“疯狂”的主意。但是，新法宣布赋予新西兰第三大长河---旺格鲁伊河人权，包括拥有财产权、承担债务义务以及上诉等权利，不过这并非史无前例。位于东北部森林山脉的乌雷威拉曾经是国家级公园，她就在2014年成为了拥有人权的“法人”。 （期待您的翻译，明天会有针对这句话的长难句解析哟~） 因此，新西兰人也就一直开玩笑提到，旺格鲁伊河应该也可以参与投票，也可以买啤酒（这条河到底多少岁？），或者还应该为溺水而亡的人负责。

The law, which was approved on March 15th, stems from disputes over the Treaty of Waitangi, by which New Zealand’s indigenous