However he began to realize that most legal systems are designed to legitimize the exploitation of the community of life and that the destruction will continue while we define all of Nature as the property of humans instead of recognizing that every member of the community of life has the right to exist and flourish.
After meeting Thomas Berry and hearing his call for the development of a new jurisprudence (philosophy of law), in 2002 Cormac wrote Wild Law: A manifesto for Earth Justice which expresses a vision of Earth Jurisprudence based on the understanding that the purpose of legal systems must be to guide humans to nurture mutually beneficial relationships with the other members of the Earth Community instead of exploiting them. Since writing Wild Law he has been active in building a global movement strong enough to drive system change. He lead the drafting of the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth (proclaimed in Bolivia in 2010), is a founder and executive committee member of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) and a judge of the International Tribunal for the Rights of Nature.
