Centro Derecho de Conservación | DRC | (Ley 20.930)

JAIME UBILLA (PhD)

Director

jubilla@centroderechoconservacion.org

Education

PhD, University of Edinburgh, School of Law
M.A. in Law, Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, 1994-1997
J.D., University of Chile, 1991.

Spoken languages

English, Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin

Dr. Jaime Ubilla, is a lawyer, legislative advisor and professor of law, focused on legal sociology, property rights and new post-modern strategies of regulatory change –with special emphasis on biodiversity law-. He is a Member of the World Environmental Law Commission of the IUCN.

Professional Activities and Associations

Dr. Jaime Ubilla, is a lawyer, legislative advisor and professor of law, focused on legal sociology, property rights and new post-modern strategies of regulatory change –with special emphasis on biodiversity law-.

Dr. Jaime Ubilla has worked for 20 years in the development of a new reflexive and inclusive model of conservation and management of natural capital (Ubilla, 2003). This new model has finally been manifested in the design and drafting of the main and structural articles of Law 20,930 that creates this new property or real right (Ubilla 2015). This new real right is a new type of real right -affirmative and reflexive- that is held with respect to environmental intangibles -the attributes and functions of the environmental heritage-. This new real law model -which breaks with 2,500 years of legal history- leaves behind the traditional model of static conservation based on restrictions or levies and purely philanthropic models and tax benefits.

He is also the founder and director of the Chilean Conservation Law Center www.centro derechoconservacion.org and the Chilean Natural Capital Coalition, and actively cooperates with international organizations dedicated to the matter.

He is also the founder of the Conservation Right Foundation www.conservationright.org, for the promotion of the international adoption of the real right of conservation or ´conservation right´.

Dr. Jaime Ubilla is a partner at Ubilla y Cia Abogados www.ub-co.com. He is currently professor -Lecturer in Law- at the School of law of the University of California, at Davis.

Publications and academic recognition

Jaime Ubilla is the original proposer of the conservation right (2003) and, as adviser to the Senate committees, drafted most of the provisions of Chile's Law No. 20.930. His work is cited by universities and publishers in Chile and abroad.

26works citing his research
6countries
64mentions in the Legislative History of Law 20.930
11own works (1997–2024)
“One of DRC's key conceptual architects.” — Journal of Environmental Law, Oxford University Press (2025)
  1. 2003“La Conservación Privada de la Biodiversidad y el Derecho Real de Conservación.” Revista de Derecho Ambiental, Universidad de Chile, N° 1, 72–96. View
  2. 2014Propuesta de Indicaciones al Proyecto de Ley del Derecho Real de Conservación. Centro de Derecho de Conservación, 9 de junio de 2014; submitted to Senators A. Horvath and A. de Urresti. View
  3. 2015El Titular del Derecho Real de Conservación. Proposal to the Senate Constitution Committee. Centro de Derecho de Conservación, octubre de 2015. View
  4. 2016Reflexive Law and Reflexive Property Rights: tackling the regulatory trilemma of ecosystems conservation. PhD thesis, School of Law, The University of Edinburgh. View
  5. 2016“El Derecho Real de Conservación: Justificación Normativa y Socio-Legal.” Revista de Derecho, Universidad de Concepción, N° 240, 151–185. View
  6. 2023“El derecho real de conservación a la luz de la historia de la Ley N° 20.930” / “The conservation right in light of the legislative history of Law No. 20930.” Revista de Derecho (Coquimbo) 30, 1–44. View
  7. 2024“Legal Forms and Reflexive Legal Forms: A New Approach to Reflexive Law.” Soziale Systeme (De Gruyter Brill). View

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