Death & Law - Interdisciplinary Explorations | School of Law

Summary

Using law as a starting point, this project draws on anthropology, theology, philosophy, medicine, museum studies and other disciplines to critically examine how society navigates human and non-human death, legacy, and the afterlife.

Death & Law - Interdisciplinary Explorations

Death and Law Podcast

Listen to the Death & Law podcast series.

Death & Law project presented at the Critical Legal Conference 2025

The 'Death & Law – Interdisciplinary Explorations Project' was featured at the Critical Legal Conference 2025, held in Exeter from 4–6 September.

Death & Law scholars present at international conference

Dr Jonathan Ainslie, Dr Euan West, and Dr Patricia Živković presented their research at an international conference held in Antwerp on 7–8 July 2025.

Project overview

This project re-examines legal perspectives on death using insights from other disciplines. It includes consideration of dignity and personality after death (extending to digital afterlife), posthumous ownership issues (e.g. buried goods), and wider non-anthropocentric concepts of death. The project aims to reassess existing legal concepts and boundaries, e.g. delict/tort, succession, property, and data protection, and to incorporate diverse views from anthropology, philosophy, theology and beyond. Over 20 academics with a variety of disciplinary backgrounds are contributing to Death & Law – Interdisciplinary Explorations.

The project extends to several activities, including interdisciplinary workshops, a podcast series (with funding from the Aberdeen Humanities Fund), consultation responses, public engagement and publications. If you would like to learn more or to become involved, please contact us.

Co-Leads

Alisdair MacPherson

University of Aberdeen

Scots Private Law

Patricia Živković

University of Aberdeen

Law and Technology

Associate Leads

Jonathan Ainslie

University of Aberdeen

Scots Private Law

Nevena Jevremovic

University of Aberdeen

Law and Literature

Euan West

University of Aberdeen

Scots Private Law

Contributors

Arnar Árnason, University of Aberdeen (Social Anthropology)
Jonathan Brown, University of Strathclyde (Scots Private Law)
Courtney Crilly, University of Aberdeen (Jurisprudence of Trauma)
Rebecca Crozier, University of Aberdeen (Archaeology of Human Remains, Death and Burial)
Neil Curtis, University of Aberdeen (Museum Studies)
Hanne Dielis, University of Antwerp (Health Law and Private Law)
Annika Diemke, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law (Private Law)
Vikki Entwistle, University of Aberdeen (Philosophy)
JP Fassnidge, University of Aberdeen (Law and Philosophy)
Edina Harbinja, University of Birmingham (Law and Technology)
Leah Henrickson, University of Queensland (Digital Media)
Edward Kirton-Darling, University of Bristol Law School (Social Welfare and Public Law)
Alice Krzanich, University of Aberdeen (History of Law and Emotions)
Fransiska Louwagie, University of Aberdeen (Languages and Cultures; Memory Studies)
Thomas Muinzer, University of Aberdeen (Burial Law, Cultural Heritage Law and Policy)
Tomislav Nedić, Faculty of Law, University of Osijek (Private Law Theory, Biolaw and Bioethics, Animal Law and Ethics)
Roderick Paisley, University of Aberdeen (Scots Private Law)
Nick Piška, Loughborough University (Critical Trusts Law)
Anna Puzio, University of Twente (Ethics of Technology)
Jennifer Riley, University of Aberdeen (Religious Studies)
Hannah Reder, University of Aberdeen (Museum Studies)
Miroslaw Sadowski, University of Strathclyde (Law and Memory)
Saskia Vermeylen, University of Strathclyde (Law, Anthropology and Cultural Studies)
Kate Woodthorpe, University of Bath (Sociology and the Family)
Zeray Yihdego, University of Aberdeen (Humanitarian Law)

Group activities

Events

Event: Workshop

Theme: Death and Law – Critical Perspectives from Other Disciplines 

Date: 20 November 2024 

Venue: The Sir Duncan Rice Library and MS Teams (hybrid event) 

Presentations:

AI, Bots and LLMs: The Disruption of Personhood presented by Dr Anna Puzio (Philosophy);

Anthropology, Death and Law presented by Dr Arnar Arnarson (Anthropology);

Grave Goods in Contemporary Britain: Illustrating Legal Fuzziness and Reluctance presented by Dr Jennifer Riley (Divinity and Religious Studies / Death Studies).

Event: Seminar

Topic: Representations of Death Between Law and Memory 

Presenter: Dr Miroslaw Sadowski (University of Strathclyde)

Date: 14 November 2024

Venue: University of Aberdeen and MS Teams (hybrid event)

Event: Interdisciplinary Workshops on Death and Law

Theme: Death and Harm

Date: 11 September 2024

Venue: University of Aberdeen and MS Teams (hybrid event)

Presentations:

Remedies and the Dead, presented by Dr Jonathan Ainslie;

Issues of Harm in Relation to Death, presented by Dr Euan West;

Humanitarian Law and the Dead, presented by Professor Zeray Yihdego.

Event: Interdisciplinary Workshops on Death and Law

Theme: Death and Property

Date: 29 August 2024

Venue: University of Aberdeen and MS Teams (hybrid event)

Presentations:

Property and the Dead, presented by Dr Alisdair MacPherson;

Property – Critical Perspectives in Death and Law, presented by Dr Nevena Jevremović;

Post-Mortem Data as Property, presented by Dr Patricia Živković.

Event: Interdisciplinary Workshops on Death and Law

Theme: Personality of the Dead

Date: 22 August 2024

Venue: University of Aberdeen and MS Teams (hybrid event)

Presentations:

Personality Rights of the Dead, presented by Dr Jonathan Ainslie;

Post-Mortem Digital Avatars/Versioning, presented by Dr Patricia Živković;

Remembering the Dead: Critical Perspectives in Death and Law, presented by Dr Nevena Jevremović.

News

16 October 2024 - Interdisciplinary Workshops on Death and Law Successfully Hosted by Law School Academics

9 July 2025 - Death & Law scholars highlight legal perspectives on death at international conference in Antwerp

8 September 2025 - Death & Law project presented at the Critical Legal Conference 2025

Relevant Publications

Anna Puzio, 2025, 'AI and the Disruption of Personhood', in Philipp Hacker (ed.), Oxford Intersections: AI in Society (Oxford, online edn, Oxford Academic), https://doi.org/10.1093/9780198945215.003.0016, 

Leah Henrickson & Dominique Carlon, 2024, An influencer’s AI clone started offering fans ‘mind-blowing sexual experiences’ without her knowledge,

Leah Henrickson, 2023, Chatting with the dead: The hermeneutics of thanabots. Media, Culture & Society, 45(5), 949-966. https://doi.org/10.1177/01634437221147626 

Anna Puzio, 2023, When the Digital Continues After Death. Ethical Perspectives on Death Tech and the Digital Afterlife, Communicatio Socialis (ComSoc), Seite 427 – 436, doi.org/10.5771/0010-3497-2023-3-427

The Rationale and Fundamental Structure of the Conditio Si Testator Sine Liberis Decesserit in Scots Law, 2016, Paisley, R. R. M. Continuity, Change and Pragmatism in the Law: Essays in Memory of Professor Angelo Forte. Simpson, A. R. C., Styles, S. C., West, E., Wilson, A. L. M. (eds.). University of Aberdeen, pp. 280-338, 59 pages

Consultations

Response to Law Commission Consultation on Burial and Cremation, 2025, Macpherson, A., Zivkovic, P., Crilly, C., Fassnidge, J., Puzio, A., Riley, J. University of Aberdeen: School of Law (Online). 20 pages.[ONLINE]  Aberdeen University Centre for Scots Law- Law Reform & Public Policy Engagement

Response to Scottish Government Consultation on Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill – Removal of Unlawful Killers as Executors, 2023, Macpherson, A., Paisley, R. University of Aberdeen: School of Law. 3 pages.

Response to Scottish Parliament (Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee) Consultation on Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Bill, 2023, Macpherson, A., Paisley, R. University of Aberdeen: School of Law (Document). 4 pages. [ONLINE] https://www.abdn.ac.uk/law/research/centre-for-scots-law/public-policy-engagement-1089.php

Podcast series