The Seal Hunt: Cultures, Economies and Legal Regimes by Nikolas Sellheim

The seal hunt has captured an inordinate amount of public attention over the last few decades compared with other prevalent means of animal exploitation. Thus, it is a wonder that a book like this new essential legal anthropological work by Sellheim has not come before. Sellheim sets out to present the ‘human dimension of the seal hunt’ (at ix). He succeeds in doing so. The first part of the book sets out the sociocultural value of seals and the legal regimes that govern them. It is here, at the book’s heart, that Sellheim’s anthropocentric narrative works best. The latter part of the book explores the European Union’s (EU) seal regime, critiquing it from multiple angles. This is fascinating, particularly where Sellheim provides insight into the EU’s travaux préparatoires. However, Sellheim’s persuasiveness here is harmed by his neglect of popular counterarguments and his light-handed approach to the rich animal welfare literature available on this topic

Book review - Animal Welfare and International Environmental Law: From Conservation to Compassion

Since J Baird Callicot wrote that environmental ethics and animal ethics grow out of ‘profoundly different cosmic visions’, animal ethics have been troublingly and needlessly divorced from environmental ethics. This situation is mirrored in law. Legal actors overplay regulatory circumstances that feed this fiction: pest control (supposedly compassionless by nature) is required for ecosystem flourishing; ballooning population levels necessitate more intensive animal farming (as if it weren’t true that the livestock industry is a protein factory in reverse (Peter Singer, Animal Liberation)); and mass adoption of vegan diets is unsustainable (evidently we ought to breed and feed billions of mutated, mutilated, and overgrown farm animals instead). Such false claims run rampant within the academy. Consequently, the title of this collection alone is bound to draw scorn. Scholtz and the contributors to this collection deserve the greatest praise for their bravery and intellectual integrity in supporting a compassionate approach to conservation. May the scorners read on and pay heed to this book’s groundswell of movement-building ideas

What can lawyers do for animals? Education in and practice of animal law in Scotland - event report

Scotland’s law schools are failing to educate its students about animal liberation: one of the de- fining social justice movements of our time.1In Scotland, animals and their defenders are left in dire need of legal expertise. This is because a lack of education in animal law has led to a dearth in legal research and practice of animal law in Scotland. It doesn’t have to be this way. In March 2019 the UK’s first animal protection law firm, Advocates for Animals, opened its doors in London.2In the United States, animal law is taught at law schools country-wide. Lewis & Clark law school in Portland, Oregon, hosts the world’s first and only LLM programme in animal law.3So, why is it that Scotland has fallen so far behind and what can be done to change this? In order to begin to tackle these questions, a panel discussion and workshop were held at the University of Strathclyde on 29 April 2019.4This event was co-hosted by the Strathclyde Centre for Environmental Law & Governance (SCELG) and the UK Centre for Animal Law (A-LAW)

Animals and the Impact of Trade Law and Policy: A Global Animal Law Question

There is a critical research gap regarding the trade and animal welfare interface: we do not know, empirically, what the impact of trade on animal welfare is. This gap exists, in part, as a result of the paternalism of international trade law and the underdevelopment of global animal law. This article addresses, firstly, the collision of dichotomous trade and animal welfare priorities in legal and political systems. It then explores attempts at reconciliation by the World Trade Organization and the European Union. This involves an investigation of the impact of trade on animal welfare. This impact is categorized into four component parts: (i) open markets, (ii) low animal-welfare havens, (iii) a chilling effect, and (iv) lack of labelling. Case studies from the European Union are examined. Thirdly, the article critiques trade law and policy as ill-suited primary drivers of global governance for animals. Global animal law is identified as a promising alternative, although its early development has been unduly affected by international trade law

What can Lawyers do for Animals? Education in and practice of animal law in Scotland – Event Report

Scotland’s law schools are failing to educate its students about animal liberation: one of the defining social justice movements of our time. In Scotland, animals and their defenders are left in dire need of legal expertise. This is because a lack of education in animal law has led to a dearth in legal research and practice of animal law in Scotland. It doesn’t have to be this way

Animal Welfare, Bilateral Trade Agreements, and Sustainable Development Goal Two

Animal welfare is integral to a number of the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This article sets out the ways in which animal welfare is closely linked to sustainable development with particular regard to sustainable agriculture, climate change, environmental protection, biodiversity protection, conservation, and social and ethical considerations. This essay further explores how international trade and investment policy can contribute significantly to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goal two (eradication of world hunger) by pursuing animal welfare protection through trade policy. Specifically, bilateral free trade agreements between developed and developing countries

Second wave animal ethics and (global) animal law : a view from the margins

Animal law and animal law studies both suffer from shortcomings in their underlying ethics. For the most part, (global) animal law draws from utilitarian welfarism and rights-based approaches to animals. Animal law academics have, thus far, paid little attention to more critical animal ethical studies, although these hold great potential for improving the justness and effectiveness of animal law. This article proposes delineating a ‘second wave of animal ethics’ consisting of a number of critical ethical lenses that are capable of addressing four key shortcomings in ‘first wave animal ethics’. This article draws particularly on feminist, posthumanist and earth jurisprudence studies to draw out four key lessons. First, the need to stop assuming that animals only deserve moral and legal consideration if they are like humans, and instead to accept, celebrate, reward and legally protect difference. Second, the need to stop assuming that moral and legal considerations should extend to animals and no further. Third, the need to stop over-relying on liberal concepts like rights and start engaging with (intersectionally) marginalized communities to theorize viable alternative paradigms that might work better for animals. Fourth, the need to stop assuming that animal ethics need to be the same everywhere. In making this argument, this article intends to inspire further research on ‘second wave animal ethics’ ideas amongst animal law scholars

Animal welfare measures in Scotland: penalties, protections, powers and a Commission

Proposals to increase maximum penalties for cruelty to animals in England were stymied last year by the prorogation and subsequent dissolution of Parliament, although a government-supported Private Member’s Bill has now revived these and is scheduled for Second Reading in October. Domestic legislation to recognise the sentience of animals due to the loss of the explicit reference to sentience in article 13 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union has been postponed until after the transition period and ‘when Parliamentary time allows’. Meanwhile, the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament are progressing a swathe of new animal welfare measures. These include new primary and secondary legislation and the creation of a Scottish Animal Welfare Commission

The applicability of GATT article XX(a) to animal welfare

This literature review synthesises recent academic commentary analysing whether there is evidence that trade restrictions aimed at protecting animal welfare can be justified under Article XX(a) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and thus whether such measures can be complimentary to and comply with the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) free trade agenda. The literature review places particular emphasis on the EC - Seal Products case and the way the case has evolved interpretations of GATT Article XX(a)

GATT Article XX(a) Permits Otherwise Trade-Restrictive Animal Welfare Measures

There is ample support in the literature (primarily recent academic commentary) for the proposition that trade restrictions aimed at protecting animal welfare can be justified under Article XX(a) of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) 1994 and thus are complimentary to and compliant with the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) free trade agenda, particularly in light of the EC – Seal Products case and the way it has affected interpretations of GATT Article XX(a)