Animal Law: Theoretical and Practical Aspects of a growing Field (NEW)
This course aims to introduce the students to the most relevant aspects of Animal Law, both from a theoretical and from a practical perspective, and equally at domestic and international levels.
The theoretical aspects will cover the historical and philosophical bases of the consideration of animals by human groups (moving from the status of mere ‘property’, to that of ‘property’ and ‘subject of protection’ at once), followed by a review of the practical aspects of the embodiment of these bases in Law, at a domestic level, through examples from different legal systems, as well as an international level. In this sense, we will explore the regulations corresponding to different areas, including Private, Administrative, Criminal, Constitutional and International Law. Among others, we will study the existing legislation concerning animal anti-cruelty laws; responsible ownerships of pets; animals as family members; animal experimentation; animal breeding and slaughter for consumption; wildlife protection, and hunting/fishing regulation.
The main objectives of the course are that the students are able to reach an understanding of the role of animals in Law; to learn the various ways how the Law regulates the different areas related to animals; to identify the rules and areas to be addressed in several practical cases, as much as to understand how this new field relates to the rest of a given legal system, recognizing its main limitations and challenges, all from an objective, critical, reflective and broad perspective.
Courses generally have little or no prerequisite knowledge required for a given topic, however if students face any doubts, we recommend they contact course professors to clarify.
| Week | Contents | Teaching / learning activities |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
WEEK 1: History of animals in Law CONTENTS Introduction. Debate: ¿Why Animal Law? Animals and Law: Key Concepts Historical Evolutions: The rise of the dual treatment Animals in Ancient Rome Animals in the Medieval; Modern, and Contemporary Ages |
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| 2 |
WEEK 2: Animal Legal Theory CONTENTS Animal Ethics Animal (Legal) Status Animal (Legal) Rights |
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| 3 |
WEEK 3: Animal Law and Practice
CONTENTS Animals in International Law Animals in Constitutional Law Animals in Private and Family Law Animals in Administrative Law Animals in Criminal Law Case Law |
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The evaluation will consist in:
1. Attendance and participation in class (25%)
2. Two short essays (900 words each)
- 1st essay: by the end of the 1st week (25%)
- 2nd essay: by the end of the 2nd week (25%)
3. Final test (25%)
Sean Butler and Raffael Fasel, Animal Rights Law, Hart Publishing. Oxford, 2023.
Luis Chiesa, “Why it is a Crime to stomp on a Goldfish? – Harm, Victimhood and the Structure of Anti-Cruelty Offenses”, in Mississippi Law Journal, num. 78.1, p. 1-67, 2008.
Alasdair Cochrane, “Ownership and Justice for Animals”, in Utilitas, Vol. 21, num. 4, 2009. Cambridge University Press, p. 424-442.
David Favre, “Living Property: A New Status for Animals within the Legal System”, in 93 Marq. L. Rev. 1021, 2009-2010, p. 1021-1072.
Joel Feinberg, “The Rights of Animals and Unborn Generations”, in Joel Feinberg, Rights, Justice, and the Bunds of Liberty, Princeton University Press. New Jersey, 1980.
Visa A.J. Kurki, “Animals, Slaves, and Corporations: Analyzing Legal Thinghood”, in German Law Journal. Vol 18 No 0, p. 1069-1090, 2017.
Visa A.J. Kurki, A Theory of Legal personhood, Oxford University Press. Oxford, 2019.
Olivier Le Bot, Droit constitutionnel de l’animal, 2ème éd., Independently published, 2023.
Carolina Leiva Ilabaca, “Exploring the Foundations of Animal Legal Rights: Towards a Sentience-Interest Pragmatic View”, in Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental, in press.
Tomasz Pietrzykowski, Foundations of Animal Law. Concepts – Principles – Dilemmas, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu ´Slakiego. Katowice, 2023.
Saskia Stucki, “Towards a Theory of Legal Animal Rights: Simple and Fundamental Rights”, in The Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 2020, Vol. 0, Num. 0, p. 1-28.
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/summary/european-union-regulations.html
http://www.youtube.com/@CCARL_charity
Carolina Leiva Ilabaca is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Law, of the Faculty of Law, Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She is a PhD in Law by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) and the University of Chile (UCH); lawyer, and master’s in animal law and Society (UAB).
She researches and teaches Criminal Law and Animal Law at the UAB. She is a collaborating Professor in the Open University of Catalonia (UOC), at the Criminal Law Department, and Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chile; the Abo Academy University (Finland), and the University of Antwerp (Belgium), among others. She is as well a former Visiting Research Fellow and current collaborator at the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law, University of Cambridge (UK) and at the ANIWERE Project (Animals under a Welfarist Regime), University of Helsinki (Finland).
- E-mail: carolina.leiva@uab.cat