The Times has an amusing piece on the weirdest legal cases decided across the world in 2008. You can read the list here. I read with particular interest the case from Austria regarding the question of whether a chimpanzee could be considered a person for the purposes of having a guardian appointed following the closure of the animal shelter in which he lived as it raises a few good points relevant for my environmental ethics students. The judge ultimately dismissed the challenge, arguing that the NGO making the claim was not authorised to represent the Chimpanzee, thus relying on an…