Abstract
Depending on religion or legal philosophy, an animal may be considered a “non-human person” whose welfare rights should be acknowledged and protected by people. Law enforcement authorities and courts address cases of treatment of animals by people, including shared by them natural habitat—“Mother Earth,” to use the term of the 2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda. This chapter discusses the philosophical and legal underpinnings for welfare rights of animals, prompted by the case of the retired orangutan Sandra. She became the first non-human subject of such rights, granted by a ground-breaking Argentinian jurisprudence with the first-ever court-backed her transfer to an animal sanctuary in the United States, where her relative welfare and freedom has been secured.
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Notes
- 1.
Judge Elena Libertori in the Contencioso Administrativo y Tributario of the City of Buenos Aires, accepted the habeas corpus advanced by the Association of Officers and Lawyers for the Rights of Animals (AFADA) and the Constitutional Lawyer Andrés Gil Dominguez to recognize the right of the orangutan named Sandra (in captivity in the Buenos Aires Zoo) to not be considered an object or thing susceptible to property, and the right not to suffer physical or psychological damage. The examination of this case exceeds the reach of this chapter.
- 2.
The Orangutan Sandra Case came to the competence of the Court of Cassation upon the brief filed by a non-governmental organization “The Association of Officers and Lawyers for Animal Rights’ against the decision rendered by the Appeals Chamber which upheld the denial of the petition of a writ of habeas corpus to protect the orangutan Sandra. On 18 December 2014, our chamber in the Court of Cassation ruled that according to a dynamic and not static legal interpretation, it was imperative to acknowledge the animal as a subject of law since ‘non-human subjects’ (i.e., animals) are still right holders. Therefore, since the case was already under investigation by the misdemeanor court, we ruled to transfer the case to the misdemeanor jurisdiction of the City of Buenos Aires (case N°CCC68831/2014/CFCI, Register N° 2603/14, free translation).
- 3.
Court in Argentina grants rights to Orangutan, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america 30571577. Sandra-the-orangutan-limited-human-rights, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/world/Americas Sandra the Orangutan inside Argentina Zoo granted human rights in landmark ruling, http://www.independent.co.uk9940202.html Habeas corpus conceded to Orangutan of Buenos Aires City Zoo, La Nación.com.ar 1754353 Gorilla Ethic.
- 4.
See also Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (993 UNTS 243) and resolutions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) 2001/12, 2003/27, 2005/25 2001/36; also the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2225 UNTS 209). All these legal instruments are accessible via the United Nations e-address: http://www.un.org.
- 5.
Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan. See Guidelines for Care and Use of nose Human Primates Ch.5, Consideration of the Behavior and Psychological Condition of NHP, June 2010.
- 6.
In this sense, see White (2008).
- 7.
See Faber (2009).
- 8.
Ley en Francia reconoce a los animales como “seres vivos y sensibles” (2015), from https://www.bbc.com/mundo/ultimas_noticias/2015/01/150129_ultnot_francia_ley_animales_seres_vivos_ng.
- 9.
India Bans Captive Dolphin Shows as ‘Morally Unacceptable’, News Editor, 2013, from https://ens-newswire.com/2013/05/20/india-bans-captive-dolphin-shows-as-morally-unacceptable/.
- 10.
All United Nations parliamentary documentation starting with “A” symbol are retrieved from the United Nations website http://www.un.org.
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David, P.R. (2021). Notes on the Case of Orangutan Sandra, the Non-Human Subject of Rights. In: Kury, H., Redo, S. (eds) Crime Prevention and Justice in 2030. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56227-4_15
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