Åbo Akademi: Open Journal Systems

Landen, Annette

Berggren, Lars

Förord / Editorial

Warwick, Genevieve

Minna Hamrin: Picturing Carnal Temptation and Sin in Italian Post-Tridentine Imagery. Dissertation, Åbo Akademi University, 2018.

Neumann, Jean-Marc

1 
Global Definition of Animal Law 
Jean-Marc Neumann 
According to a widely shared opinion, Animal law is the field of Law protecting animals. This is a mis-
perception. 
Animal law of course encompasses provisions protecting animals against, for example, acts of cruelty or 
bad treatments but Animal law also includes many provisions protecting humans against animals, ruling 
hunting and fishing as well as provisions permitting certain practices under which animals may be tortu-
red and killed in the name of traditions, culture or food. 
Animal law is a very broad field of law overlapping with almost all other existing fields of law such as 
constitutional law, civil law, commercial law ,consumer law, tax law, criminal law, environmental law, 
international trade law, transport law, intellectual property law, marine and fisheries law, hunting law. 
Animal Law is rooted in constitutions, codes, statutes, decrees, ordinances and the jurisprudence or case 
law. 
Animal Law can be defined as the field of law encompassing all legal issues that directly or 
indirectly may have an impact on non-human animals. 
The emergence and the swift development of Animal law in the past thirty years stem mainly from the 
progress of science. 
Since decades now, scientists have recognized that non-human animals (at least those having a nervous 
system) have sentience and capacities that are analogous to those of humans and, in particular, the capa-
city to feel pain. 
Added to this is mankind’s growing awareness of the abuses inherent in the exploitation of animals. As 
a consequence of scientific research progress, humans adopt higher moral standards and a new ethics. 
Animal Law is continuously fed by the progress of science. Thanks to the article published on June 7, 
2003 by the University of Edinburgh (« Do fishes have nociceptors? Evidence for the evolution of a 
vertebrate sensory system » by L. U. Sneddon,V. A. Braithwaite and M. J. Gentle), we know that fishes 
can feel pain. This discovery brought humans to reconsider their relationship to fishes and to think about 
protecting their sentience through the law. 
Scientific research is the key for protecting other species than vertebrates and to stronger laws for all 
non-human animals (vertebrates and invertebrates) capable of feeling pain. 
However, despite the fact that humans know that all vertebrates and some invertebrates feel pain, they 
do not adopt an equal treatment to all animals. The way the law protects animals depends largely from 
our attitude and the way we see these animals. 
Some non-human animals, despite the fact that they are recognized as sentient beings, can be at the same 
time treated as pests and as pets (rats for example). Some others are strictly protected against acts of cruelty 
if they are held in captivity and can be tortured and hunted without any legal protection if they live in the 
wild (if not considered as an endangered species). It is all about morality, tradition,culture and economics. 
Animal law is mostly anthropocentric. 
2 
We should always keep in mind that the law is a tool created by humans for humans and that until very 
recently non-human animals were almost totally ignored or just considered as mere things. Animal law is 
the result of compromises and of constant political and legal battles between conservative and progressive 
citizens. 
But the key to understanding what is animal law is first to understand what we mean by « animal ».There 
is no general definition of what is an « animal ». The term « animal » is only defined under a given statute 
and than only in respect with the object of the text and its provisions. 
The term « animal » can be defined as all living beings other than humans and plants. 
Furthermore non-human animals can be classified in different categories such as companion animals, 
livestock and domestic animals; for example, a horse can be considered as a companion animal, livestock 
and even as wildlife for mustangs. 
The absence of a general definition of the term «animal » and the likelihood of confusion that can result 
from the various classifications of some animals makes it necessary for the legislator and lawyers to clarify 
these issues in order to have something that is coherent and understandbale by those who are in charge 
of the implementation of legal provisions relating to non-human animals and for the general public. 
Animal law may, in my opinion, be divided in three large sub-categories: 
1. Animal law protecting animals from humans 
This first sub-category encompasses: 
- animal welfare laws: they deal with the « humane » treatment of sentient animals that are used 
by humans, for example for food (during the whole life cycle of animals from  breeding, raising, 
shipping to their slaughter), for animal testing or for entertainment; 
- anti-cruelty laws: they protect animals against acts of cruelty and bad treatments 
- animal rights law: the promoters of animal rights seek fundamental rights for certain animals at 
least those having a high level of cognition and having a certain level of autonomy (mainly apes, 
elephants and marine mammals such as dolphins, orcas and whales); such fundamental rights 
include the right to freedom and autonomy. 
- wildlife protection laws: they protect certain species against hunting or killing 
2. Animal law protecting humans from animals 
This second sub-category encompasses: 
- animal pest laws: ruling the killing or « destruction » of species considered by humans as pest 
meaning they may cause damage to human interests especially economical interests or to human 
health; 
- dangerous dog laws: banning certain dog breeds or classifying dogs who may be dangerous or 
agressive (attack or defense dogs) who must be kept by their owner under very stringent rules to 
protect humans; 
- game regulation laws: protecting human economic interests from damage caused or which 
might be caused by wild animals; 
- sanitary laws authorizing the destruction of animals to preserve public health. 
3 
3. Other provisions organizing the general relationship of humans with 
non-human animals 
This third sub-category is a very broad one encompassing all other legal issues regulating the relationship 
between humans and non-human animals. They include: 
- hunting and fishing laws: ruling the practice of recreational hunting and fishing; 
- sale of pets laws 
- animal testing laws 
- farmed animals laws 
- tort and insurance laws 
- animal ownership laws 
- divorce laws 
- consumer laws 
- intellectual property laws 
- international laws on animal trade and conservation 
Conclusion 
In the past decades, lawyers (practitioners, scholars) have been key players in the development of animal 
law and still are; however we must notice that very recently animal activists and sometimes even the 
general public have also played an amazing role in seeking through petitions and demonstrations stronger 
laws for protecting animals. Animal parties have been set up in several countries representing animals’ 
own interests in politics. This is extremely encouraging but each step forward is opposed (sometimes 
successfully) by large and powerful lobbies who want less protection and less control of their activities. 
Animal law is a tool that can be used in two different ways by lawyers: 
- they may merely apply the existing provisions without any other purpose. This is what can be 
considered as a purely « legal technician » approach; 
- they may take a different path and consider themselves as animal activists and seek new and 
stronger protection laws and even rights for animals. This is what can be considered as an « acti-
vist » approach. 
Both ways are necessary for the development of animal law. 
From my point of view the heart of the legal profession specializing in animal law is to do whatever is 
necessary and useful in order to enforce and strengthen animal protection laws, to fight for the inclusion 
of animal welfare provisions in state constitutions and seek fundamental rights for certain species. 


English

Global Definition of Animal Law

Wahlberg, Birgitta

1 
An Attempt to Define Animal Law 
Birgitta Wahlberg* 
In established fields of law, animal law is typically considered to belong to the field of legal theory, environ-
mental law, administrative law or criminal law. However, animal law as a whole does not fit well into any of 
the traditional fields of law but rather forms its own interdisciplinary field, which moves quite freely between 
the different fields of public and private law, depending on the focus and methods of the studies in question. 
Thus, not all legal research or laws relating to animals should be considered as animal law. The argumentation 
here is based on the author’s personal understanding of animal law as a field of law and jurisprudence (subject 
of law). 
In contrast to, for instance, environmental law, animal law distances itself from anthropocentrism but focuses 
rather on the animal. For example, the environment, the concept at the heart of environmental law, is different 
from the concept of the animal applied in animal law that focuses on living sentient beings, while the environ-
ment also covers the inanimate environment and animals mainly as species, not as individuals. The focal point 
in animal law regardless of the context is the living sentient being perspective.1 This fundamental premise 
has a crucial impact on the research questions, methods and conclusions in research, but should also have 
an impact on lawmaking, its interpretation and implementation, and the entry of the legislation into force. 
Therefore, because of the animal-centered approach and the questions raised thereby, traditional areas of 
law will never fully be able to tackle all the questions that animal law seeks to answer. 
Currently, the objects of animal law research can range from theoretical questions to legislative matters, 
activities of the animal protection authorities and legal practice. Animal protection includes both animal 
welfare laws, wildlife laws (conservation) and rights laws, and is rooted in written law and in the practical 
application of statutes, regulations, and case law. It can be focused on national, European or international 
legislation, concern all animals or a single species, or a specific type of activity such as animal transportation 
or slaughter. However, animal law as a subject of law is broader and includes theoretical and legal philo-
sophical issues, such as questions about the legal status of animals.  The main approaches applied in animal 
law studies are legal theory, legal dogmatics, legal policy and legal history. In addition, comparative and em-
pirical research is carried out within the field of law. In practice, teleological arguments are prominent in 
animal law studies. Generally, one could determine that the aim of animal law is to break away from 
the traditional legal subject–object dichotomy and examine from an animal perspective how ani-
                                                 
* Dr Birgitta Wahlberg is a researcher and teacher in public law at Åbo Akademi University in Finland. Her field of expertise is 
animal law. She has published the first animal law textbook in Finland and several articles about different issues concerning animals 
in legal contexts. She has founded the Global Journal of Animal Law and is the co-founder and chairperson of the Finnish Animal 
Rights Lawyers Society. This text is part of a chapter from her article Eläinoikeus: katsaus nykytilaan ja tulevaisuuteen (Animal Law: An 
Overview of the Current State and the Future) published in Oikeus 2018 (47); 2: 179 – 198. 
1 I do not find it useful to include legal issues concerning e.g. animal by-products in animal law. Animal by-products are parts 
harvested or manufactured from animals that are not intended for human consumption. The norms concerning animal by-products 
include fractions produced during the slaughter of animals (focus on already dead animals). Similarly, legal questions related to the 
disposal of animal carcasses (in Finland by virtue of the Waste Act 646/2011, Hunting Act 615/1993, Health Protection Act 
763/1994, Act on the Maintenance, Cleaning and Clearing of Public Areas 669/1978 or the Environmental Protection Act 
527/2014) do not, in my view, belong to the sphere of animal law. 
 
2 
mals are best protected by law from negative human impact. Thus, in animal law, we ask funda-
mental questions about the nature of a legal right or interest, how laws create or entrench (power) 
imbalances, and, most importantly, how those imbalances impact animals both de lege lata and de 
lege ferenda. 
Animal law overlaps with many traditional areas of law and jurisprudence, but the field also explores other 
areas, such as natural science, political science, and philosophy. Animal law is multidimensional and an 
accumulation of knowledge from a variety of disciplines. At best, animal law is engaged in intense dialogue 
with other scientific fields and subjects. By making use of results and understanding from, for example, 
research on animals and human-animal relations, animal law takes shape as a multidisciplinary field of law.2 
By ‘multidisciplinary’ I refer to the fact that dialogue between several fields of sciences is required to solve 
legal questions concerning animals.  ‘Multijurisprudential’ refers to the multilayered fashioning of diverse 
legal material that shapes animal law and the understanding of animals as individual legal entities, in other 
words, the filtering and absorption of information from other fields of law. The diagram below illustrates 
the multidisciplinary and multilawdisciplinary nature of animal law. 
 
Animal law differs from other fields of law based on five characteristics (the characteristics are present in 
individual studies to a varying degree depending on the research question(s) and method(s) chosen): 
1) Animals and animal protection (welfare, interests and rights of animals) are at the core of animal law; 
2) Animal law aims to distance itself from anthropocentrism i.e. the animal perspective is in focus; 
3) Animal law is multidisciplinary; 
4) Animal law is ‘multilawdisciplinary’ within the subjects of law; 
                                                 
2 “Multilawdisciplinary” is referred to by Kumpula, Anne in EU:n ympäristöoikeuden perusteet required reading for entrance exam at 
the University of Turku 3/2010, p. 3. 
 
3 
5) The fundamental questions within animal law are universal3. 
In conclusion, the knowledge and understanding of animals provided by different fields of law and areas of 
science viewed from an animal (law) perspective, form animal law. However, dialogue and acquisition of 
knowledge from other areas is meaningful only when it adds to our legal understanding of animals and serves 
as a means to resolve legal questions from an animal point of view.4 Therefore, collaboration within multi-
disciplinarity and multilawdisciplinarity must be pursued with care and only when it has true significance for 
animals. This is partly why I do not consider animal law as part of any of the existing anthropocentric fields 
of law. Keeping animals in focus, which is the most important characteristic of animal law, changes the 
approach and perspective, and thereby also the content and outcomes. Thus, I do not personally support the 
view that any course or study involving an animal or animal-related legislation should be considered as Ani-
mal Law per se. 
A different approach leads to different conclusions and outcomes. At the current state of development, the 
manifestations, contents, methods and aspects of animal law are still taking shape and being discussed. To 
be regularly reviewed and redefined is a prerequisite for the evolution of Animal Law, which has as its main 
goal to better protect animals from negative human impact. 
As a summary, I propose the following as an international definition of Animal Law: 
‘In animal law we ask fundamental questions about the nature of a legal right or interest, how laws 
create or entrench power imbalances, and - most importantly - how the law and those imbalances 
impact animals evaluated from an animal point of view. 
Animal law overlaps with many traditional areas of the law and jurisprudence, but the field also ex-
plores other areas of science such as e.g. natural and political science and philosophy. Animal law is 
rooted in the written law and in the practical application of statutes, regulations, and case law.’ 
                                                 
3 For instance, the questions concerning the legal status of animals is a universal question in the sense that it is significant and 
fundamental regardless of the legal system it is raised within. Other universal questions relate to the content and meaning of certain 
key concepts (e.g. the concepts of animal welfare, recognition of animal’s dignity and intrinsic value, respect for animals and 
animals’ fundamental rights). 
4 Compare this approach to children’s legal status and child law, which focuses on the best interests and welfare of the child as 
natural persons (legal subjects). 


An Attempt to Define Animal Law

Sochirca, Neli

1 
What is Animal Law? 
Neli Sochirca  
“Law”, is commonly agreed to be a system of rules organizing activities and relations between members of a 
group, enforceable by a controlling authority and likely to penalties. 
Traditionally, there are numerous fields of law depending on their subject-matter and purpose. For example, “ad-
ministrative law” deals with the organization of the State and public authorities, “corporate law” concerns the 
formation and management of businesses, while “environmental law” regulates the impact of human activities on 
the environment. 
As for “animal law”, it doesn’t yet exist as a distinct legal field. However, based on the definition of “law”, it could 
be described as a system of rules regulating the life of animals and the activities involving them, as well as their 
interaction among themselves or with others, liable to legal enforcement and penalties. 
Formally correct, this definition appears insufficient to utterly depict what animal law is. Otherwise, it could be 
alleged that “animal law” already exists. In France, for instance, there are rules on activities involving animals (both 
in private or commercial contexts), animals are protected by criminal law, damage caused by animals is legally dealt 
with etc. Still, insofar as these rules generally aim at protecting humans rather than animals, the definition of animal 
law should also (and particularly) delimit its subject-matter and purpose. These could be two main criteria for 
“animal law”, distinguishing it from rules which, even if they concern animals, pertain to other legal fields (such as 
criminal law, environmental law etc.). 
In this light, the animal law subject-matter criteria should be the “animals”. Biologically speaking, animals are any 
multicellular living organism other than plants, bacteria or fungi1. Legally speaking, animals could be any multicel-
lular living organism other than plants, bacteria, fungi or humans. Indeed, in a legal context, the common sense of 
the word “animal” seems to exclude “humans” and vice-versa. Certainly this is why no one claims the extension 
to humans of already existing legal texts on animals2. Thus, law could set a distinct legal sense to the words “hu-
mans” and “animals” without the need to specify “non-human animals”. 
As for the purpose criteria, animal law should seek the protection of animals, as protection generally characterizes 
any legal field. For instance, family law aims at protecting the family bounds and interests of members of a family 
by organizing their mutual relations as well as their relations with others. Environmental law aims at protecting the 
environment by imposing specific behavior rules. Criminal law protects the society from misconduct. Torts law 
protects the interests of one suffering damage etc. 
Accordingly, based on these two criteria, animal law could be defined as a system of rules aiming to protect animals 
by the regulation of animals’ life and of activities involving them, as well as by dealing with their interaction among 
themselves or with others, liable to legal enforcement and penalties. 
In the light of this definition, not all rules concerning animals would be “animal law” rules. In order to distinguish 
them, a standard of animal protective measures should be set, serving as a framework to animal law. In the lack of 
specific studies thereon, such a standard may be currently sought in the World’s Organization for Animal Health 
(OIE) definition of “animal welfare”, centered around the five following freedoms: freedom from hunger, 
                                                 
1 Cecie Starr, Ralph Taggart, Christine Evers & Lisa Starr: “Biology - The Unit and Diversity of Life”, 15th Edition, Cengage, 
Boston, 2017 
2 Such as, for example, Article 13 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, the European Convention for the 
protection of pet animals, the European Directive n° 2010/63 on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, the 
European Regulation n° 1/2005 on the protection of animals during transport and related operations, the European Regula-
tion n° 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing etc. 
2 
malnutrition and thirst; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom 
from pain, injury and disease; freedom to express normal patterns of behavior3. 
Should a rule fail to achieve these freedoms, it wouldn’t be “animal law”. Although some argue that “animal law” 
and “animal welfare” are contradictory concepts because the second admits attempts to animals, while the first 
doesn’t, it can be noted that the OIE five freedoms are a malleable concept that could inspire a standard for animal 
law protective rules. Indeed, it is more likely that, rather than being inappropriate for animal protection, these five 
freedoms simply don’t serve their fullest sense. For example, freedoms from fear, distress and physical discomfort 
currently coexist with the concept of industrial slaughterhouses, which seems inconsistent with the very sense of 
these freedoms. 
Finally, the definition of “animal law” raises the question of the relation between animals and humans. Would this 
imply the banishment of any human activities that involve animals? Would this imply incriminating the production 
of animal origin products? Would this imply killing a mosquito to be a criminal offense? Would this imply granting 
animals a legal personality? When and why would animal law rules prevail on other rules, or inversely? While the 
answer to these questions (and so many more) deserves a separate thorough work, at this point it can be noted that 
a case by case answer wouldn’t be a satisfactory solution to the human – animal relation dilemma. 
Indeed, it appears necessary to set a general principle, endowing animal law with a sustainable content among other 
legal fields. Such general principle could be studied in the light of the latest scientific progress on animal conscious-
ness, of the notion of sentience, but also of the concepts of utility and, above all, necessity. This should lead to 
major changes in the current concept of animal-human relation, while guaranteeing a balanced satisfaction of in-
terests. 
                                                 
3 http://www.oie.int/en/animal-welfare/animal-welfare-at-a-glance/   


What is Animal Law?

Bo Eriksson: Bestiarium. En medeltida djurbok, Stockholm 2009 & 2017; ”Bestiarium – djur på medeltida vis I–V” (https://tidsresan.nu) 2017; Monster. En världshistoria om det skrämmande, Sthlm 2016; Monsterbestiarium (illustr. av Lina Blixt), Sthlm 2018

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Förord / Editorial

Minna Hamrin: Picturing Carnal Temptation and Sin in Italian Post-Tridentine Imagery. Dissertation, Åbo Akademi University, 2018.

Global Definition of Animal Law

Förord / Editorial

An Attempt to Define Animal Law

What is Animal Law?

Bo Eriksson: Bestiarium. En medeltida djurbok, Stockholm 2009 & 2017; ”Bestiarium – djur på medeltida vis I–V” (https://tidsresan.nu) 2017; Monster. En världshistoria om det skrämmande, Sthlm 2016; Monsterbestiarium (illustr. av Lina Blixt), Sthlm 2018

What is Animal Law

What is Animal Law?

Animal Law as an Interdisciplinary Academic Program

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