Death and Law

Abstract  In this episode, we explore the emerging world of technologies that allow individuals to continue existing in digital form even after death. From grief bots and posthumous avatars to AI-enabled holograms, we examine how people are preserving voices, memories, and personalities through the use of artificial intelligence.  Typically, these digital personas are built from multimodal data, i...

Abstract This episode brings together a panel of scholars to explore the concept of collective memory and its deep connections to law, identity, and the dead. The episode unpacks the contours of collective memory, the idea of a "duty of memory"—a responsibility to remember and acknowledge past violence, injustice, or trauma, which plays a key role in shaping national identity and guiding public di...

Abstract Oxford dictionary defines anthropocentrism as a worldview that sees humans as the source of all value. As the concept of value itself is a human creation, nature has value merely as a means to the ends of human beings. As a result, legal framework evolved to legitimize and promote the view of nature as an object  - as something to be exploited, dominated and controlled. In this episode, w...

Abstract  This podcast provides an overview of the law of succession, which regulates the passing of property on death. While Professor Roderick Paisley and Dr Alisdair MacPherson give their scholarly perspectives on succession law, especially in Scotland, Vanessa Holmes offers insights into how this legal area works in a specific context: namely, gifts left to universities. Succession is not only...

Abstract  This podcast addresses the issue of grave goods in both a historical and contemporary context. Grave goods are material things which people leave in grave sites, usually in the knowledge they will never be returned. The first part of the podcast discusses ancient grave goods in Scotland, which fall to be addressed under the law of treasure trove. We are joined by Mr Neil Curtis, Head of...

Abstract  This podcast is concerned with the legal, moral and social status of human remains in a variety of different contexts. We begin with a discussion of interred human remains, the right of sepulchre (or burial), and the criminal offence of violation of sepulchres in Scotland. We then move on to discuss human remains which ought to have been buried but were not. For this part of the podcast,...

Death & Law - Interdisciplinary Explorations | School of Law | The University of Aberdeen