Animals In International Law

The plight of animal individuals and species inflicted on them by human activity is a global problem with detrimental repercussions for all humans and for the entire planet. This book gives an overview of the most important international legal regimes that directly address and indirectly affect animals. It covers species conservation treaties, notably the international whaling regime, the farm animal protection rules of the EU, international trade law and the international law of armed conflict. It also analyses the potential for an international regime of animal rights. Finding that international law creates more harm than good for animals, the auther suggests progressive treaty interpretation, treaty making and animal interest representation to close the animal welfare gap in international law. A body of global animal law needs to be developed, accompanied by critical global animal studies.

This open access book contains 13 contributions on global animal law, preceded by an introduction which explains key concepts and methods. Global Animal Law refers to the sum of legal rules and principles (both state-made and non-state-made) governing the interaction between humans and other animals, on a domestic, local, regional, and international level. Global animal law is the response to the mismatch between almost exclusively national animal-related legislation on the one hand, and the global dimension of the animal issue on the other hand. The chapters lay some historical foundations in the ius naturae et gentium, examine various aspects of how national and international law traditionally deals with animals as commodity; and finally suggest new legal concepts and protective strategies. The book shows numerous entry points for animal issues in international law and at the same time shifts the focus and scope of inquiry.

Addressing the interests of non-human animals in an era of globalization requires consideration of a wide range of international influences upon domestic case law, policy, and legal doctrine. International agreements and decisions affect much more than simple cross-border transactions in animals or animal-related products and can also impact what individual countries may or may not do internally to address animal cruelty, health, consumer protection interests, cultural preservation, conservation, species preservation, and a host of other issues in their national laws and regulations. For the first time, materials from a variety of sources are brought together in a single volume which permits instructors and students to focus directly on the complex interaction which occurs between domestic animal law and various international regimes. Key multilateral environmental agreements, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, and the International Convention on the Regulation of Whaling, are all considered. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, and the WTO's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures Agreement, and its Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement are also examined to illustrate that international economic law is no less significant in shaping domestic animal measures than are the more well-known environmental agreements. Additionally, efforts to advance animal interests through regional law, nonbinding international standards, or grass-roots efforts such the proposed Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare are also explored. Accordingly, International Issues in Animal Law can serve either as the basis for a stand-alone course, or as a supplement for those who wish to add more of an international emphasis to other course offerings. A comprehensive Teacher's Manual is available for instructors, with numerous cross-references and links to additional resources which makes teaching these materials easy--and fun--even for those with no prior background in the field. "Fitzgerald's book provides a much-needed text that bridges the gap among animal, environmental, and international law texts focusing on the unique issues and challenges raised at the intersection of these three areas of study and practice. [...] While the book primarily is designed as a text for classroom use complete with an incredibly helpful Teacher's Manual providing extensive information and additional resources to supplement the readings in the text, it is also suitable for the advocate looking to become more acquainted with international animal law issues. [...] In this book, Fitzgerald admirably meets his stated goal of facilitating more effective animal advocacy domestically and internationally." -- Joan Schaffner, Journal of Animal Ethics

This book focuses on animal laws and animal welfare in major jurisdictions in the world, including the more developed legal regimes for animal protection of the US, UK, Australia, the EU and Israel, and the regulatory regimes still developing in China, South Africa, and Brazil. It offers in-depth analyses and discussions of topical and important issues in animal laws and animal welfare, and provides a comprehensive and comparative snapshot of some of the most important countries in the world in terms of animal population and worsening animal cruelty. Among the issues discussed are international law topics that relate to animals, including the latest WTO ruling on seal products and the EU ban, the Blackfish story and US law for cetaceans, the wildlife trafficking and crimes related to Africa and China, and historical and current animal protection laws in the UK and Australia. Bringing together the disciplines of animal law and animal welfare science as well as ethics and criminology with contributions from some of the most prominent animal welfare scientists and animal law scholars in the world, the book considers the strengths and failings of existing animal protection law in different parts of the world. In doing so it draws more attention to animal protection as a moral and legal imperative and to crimes against animals as a serious crime.

This unique book establishes potential future avenues within the law to enhance the welfare of animals and grant them recognised legal status. Charting the direction of the animal-human relationship for future generations, it explores the core concepts of property law to demonstrate how change is possible for domestic animals. As an ethical context for future developments the concept of a ‘right of place’ is proposed and developed.

The rise of the globalized economy has rendered an even more profound change in the relationship between humans and other animals than the ancient progression from huntergatherer to agricultural society. In today’s global markets, multinational corporations exploit the economic value of animals throughout the world on an unprecedented scale. The philosophical and legal notions that animals are mere unfeeling machines or pieces of property, although more or less taken for granted for centuries, has been challenged, if not burst asunder, in recent decades (in law, moral philosophy, and cognitive and other sciences), and regulation of the treatment of animals in agriculture, experimentation, entertainment and other areas has begun to make substantial inroads in national and international law. This book provides a detailed analysis of international and comparative animal law focusing on the impact of today’s globalized economy on animal law. Describing a wide range of domestic and international laws relating to the treatment of animals, the author explicates the sorts of legal rules which affect the global animal marketplace. Representative norms in existing animal protection laws are analyzed and critiqued, illustrating the diverse approaches taken by different countries and by the international community in regulating uses of animals. Among the issues covered are the following: - contemporary philosophical thought on the relationship between humans and animals; - recent scientific research relating to cognitive and other abilities of animals; - legal issues relating to factory farming and animal slaughter; - legal protection of animals during transport; - regulatory schemes on animal experimentation; - laws on the use of animals in entertainment; - laws on protection of companion animals; - regulation of trade in endangered species; - international trade issues relating to animals, including consideration of the provisions of GATT and the seminal WTO/GATT decisions in the Tuna/Dolphin, Shrimp/Turtle, Tuna Labeling and EU/Seal Products cases; - constitutional protection for the interests of animals; - intellectual property law issues relating to animals; - efforts to have the legal “personhood” of certain animals judicially recognized; and - what the future may hold for animal law in the global economy. To ensure the consideration of a full range of legal approaches, the laws analyzed come from a wide variety of countries and jurisdictions, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, the EU, Germany, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK, and state and federal laws of the US. Numerous international treaties and conventions relevant to animal treatment and animal law are also covered, including the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the CITES Convention, the European Convention for the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes, the European Patent Convention, the GATT Treaty, the TRIPS Agreement and the Universal Copyright Convention. It is not difficult to grasp, given the continuing increases in production, consumption and use of animals and animal products worldwide, that legal initiatives in this often emotional and acrimonious area of law are frequently contentious and hard fought. But this is really just the dawn of animal law, which has only recently become recognized as an important cutting-edge topic, and this area of the law promises to develop rapidly in the future. This book is enormously valuable in contributing to the continuing development and understanding of this law, clearly laying out the contours and boundaries of existing animal laws in our global economy, and allowing legal educators, concerned lawyers and policymakers to teach, formulate proposals, argue cases and defenses, and secure a firm purchase on future trends and developments in animal law.

This open access book contains 13 contributions on global animal law, preceded by an introduction which explains key concepts and methods. Global Animal Law refers to the sum of legal rules and principles (both state-made and non-state-made) governing the interaction between humans and other animals, on a domestic, local, regional, and international level. Global animal law is the response to the mismatch between almost exclusively national animal-related legislation on the one hand, and the global dimension of the animal issue on the other hand. The chapters lay some historical foundations in the ius naturae et gentium, examine various aspects of how national and international law traditionally deals with animals as commodity; and finally suggest new legal concepts and protective strategies. The book shows numerous entry points for animal issues in international law and at the same time shifts the focus and scope of inquiry. This work was published by Saint Philip Street Press pursuant to a Creative Commons license permitting commercial use. All rights not granted by the work's license are retained by the author or authors.

based on author's thesis (doctoral - Universitèat Basel, 2016) issued under title: The extraterritorial protection of animals: admissibility and possibilities of the application of national animal welfare standards to animals in foreign countries.