Reflecting on 25 Years of Teaching Animal Law: Is it Time for an International Crime of Animal Ecocide?

Abstract

2019 marked the 25th anniversary of the introduction of Animal Law to the law degree at Liverpool John Moores University. This article examines changes in the legal protection of animals during this time and the impact this will have on research and scholarship in the law relating to animals. We examine whether the overall international treatment of animals has improved and how far the approach to the Animal Law curriculum should be influenced by the growth in concerns around climate change. In this context, we examine the development of the law of ecocide and the extent to which it addresses concerns around animal welfare across the globe. We suggest that those involved in the development of Animal Law, ethics and policy might usefully engage in a new vision of ecocide, which incorporates a clearer notion of 'animal ecocide'. This new approach would enhance the international and national focus on animals in their own right, would recognise increasing knowledge of animal sentience and would move our responsibilities to them beyond anthropocentric approaches to environmental protection. We argue that the inclusion of a more specific reference to animal ecocide would contribute to the development of Animal Law and would lead to an enhanced relationship between Animal Law and attempts to protect the environment.

Mainstreaming the Animal in Biodiversity Governance: Broadening the Moral and Legal Community to Nonhumans

“…Ecocide is defined as "extensive damage to, destruction or loss of ecosystem(s) of a given territory, whether by human agency or by other causes to such an extent that peaceful enjoyment by the inhabitants of that territory has been or will be severely diminished" (Higgins et al, 2013: 257). Legge and Brooman (2020) propose that international animal law should recognize "animal ecocide" through an amendment to the Rome Statute, which they argue would significantly advance wild animal welfare. They see animal ecocide as the "unnecessary killing or slaughter of a wild or wild-caught animal, by any human agency, or allowing such killing or slaughter to be so caused by any governmental organisation, to such an extent that an animal, or group of animals, lose their sentient capacity to live a natural life according to their species" (Legge and Brooman, 2020: 212).…”

Demystifying the Concept of the Right to Health

“…Indeed, because of the same fact, there is also contemporary research that suggests international crime of a more specific crime of ecocide -animal ecocide. 71 (Environmental) law has the challenging and not-easy task to seek the environmental rule of law and protection of the whole living and unliving world, especially natural habitats. The situation of the huge fire catastrophe in the Amazon area has again opened the question of the legal aspect and consequences of the ecocide 72 since there is already an initiative in the scientific circles to establish ecocide as a "fifth international 'Crime against Peace' under a proposed amendment 73 to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court".…”