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Title
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Neither persons nor things: the changing status of animals in private law
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Author
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Abstract
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| The summa divisio between the person and the thing lies, traditionally, at the very basis of European private law. In a growing number of European jurisdictions however, provisions have been introduced in the Civil Code that differentiate between animals and other legal things or objects. Even though it is certain that these provisions do not vest animals with a form of legal personality similar to that of humans or corporations, it has been noted that the new legal status may influence the way animals are being addressed in other areas of private law and can sometimes even be construed as limiting the rights of persons. Perceived as such, the special status of the animal challenges the traditional dichotomy between the person and the thing, giving rise to a category that lies in between. This article aims to shed light on the changing status of the animal in private law in continental Europe. The Civil Code provisions differentiating between animals and other things or goods of France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands are compared to show how the development manifests itself differently in different legal cultures. The article concludes with the suggestion that the special status of animals in the Civil Code can provide some valuable lessons for the way in which the central dichotomy between the person and thing can be overcome, and form a possible starting point for a dynamic and ‘more-than-human’-legality that recognizes various non-human modes of existence. |
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Language
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English
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Source (journal)
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Revue européenne de droit privé. - Dordrecht
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Publication
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Dordrecht
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2021
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ISSN
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0928-9801
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Volume/pages
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29
:1
(2021)
, p. 39-70
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ISI
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000637858500003
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Full text (open access)
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Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
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