Who is Law For? An Analysis of the Nature of the Legal Being

该项目将提供第一篇关于“法人”的当代综合性学术论文，因为这一法律概念适用于自然人和物体：从理性的人，到人类的胎儿，再到动物，再到树木。它将直接影响一些最敏感和最具争议性的法律领域的法律决策，因此将具有高度实际的法律应用。例如，该项目对胚胎的法律地位进行了批判性的评估，因此，考虑到新的生殖技术、克隆和胚胎干细胞研究的合法性，国家和国际法改革者将直接感兴趣。

The project will provide the first contemporary comprehensive scholarly treatise on "the legal person" as this legal concept applies to natural beings and objects: from rational humans, to human foetuses to animals to trees. It will have a direct bearing on legal decision-making in some of the most sensitive and controversial areas of law and therefore will have a highly practical legal application. For example, the project critically evaluates the legal status of the embryo and so will be of immediate interest to national and international law reformers considering the legality of the new reproductive technologies, cloning and embryonic stem cell research.