Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: The paper critically examines the limitations of the prevailing ‘animal welfare’ paradigm in the legal and ethical treatment of non-human animals and explores alternative legal models that aim to recognize animals as rights-bearing entities. Drawing on comparative and interdisciplinary legal analysis, the author contrasts three major approaches: legal personhood for animals, the rights of nature framework, and Eva Bernet Kempers’ gradualist model of legal recognition. The paper argues for a pluralistic and context-sensitive jurisprudence that acknowledges the diversity of animal life and the complexity of human-animal relationships. Rather than advocating for a single revolutionary shift, the author suggests the concept of ‘differentiated animal jurisprudence,’ envisioning legal reform as a dynamic and layered process rooted in moral inclusion, ecological interdependence, and legal innovation. It is concluded that a post-anthropocentric legal order requires moving beyond binary categories of person/property and developing differentiated paths to justice for nonhuman animals.
Author: Gulič Pirnat, Priscila
Language: English
Topic: Animal Law and Welfare
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7169746047