June 17, 2022

Roundtable Animal Legal Personhood: perspectives from Asia

Description

The increasingly widely established discipline of Animal Rights Law is often discussed from an Anglo-American perspective. It is crucial to move beyond this state of affairs towards more diversity, knowledge transmission, and exchange of ideas. With the support of our partners ACTAsia and The Institute of Animal Law Asia, the Animals and Biodiversity Think Tank Programme is hosting a roundtable discussion.

The aim of this Roundtable is to open the floor to Animal Law scholars who have experience of the Asian context to enrich and diversify the debate on the legal status of animals and their potential accession to legal personhood (by judicial or legislative means), with a regional and global vision.

Experts from various Asian countries will highlight the current legal status of animals in their respective jurisdictions and discuss what animal legal personhood could look like in practice. The focus of this event will be on discussion and intellectual exchange.

Key topics include the current legal status of animals in various jurisdictions, ongoing debates about the status of animals as persons or property, advantages and disadvantages of granting animals legal personhood, and the potential basis for an evolution of their legal status (history, culture, religion, philosophy, legal tradition, etc.)

Hosted by the Animal & Biodiversity Think Tank Programme at the Global Research Network