Abstract:
Simon and Debbie began a course in Animal Law on the law degree at LJMU in 1994. It is one of the longest running such courses in the world and the longest running such course in the UK. In this presentation we will suggest that Animal Law is a subject whose time has truly arrived. We will detail the drivers that led us to starting the course in 1994, and the obstacles we faced in a sometimes skeptical legal education landscape. Two central aspects form part of the essence of this subject: the link with philosophical/historical thought around human attitudes to animals and the link with wider environmental concerns. We will suggest that 21st Century issues and threats to humankind make its availability to law students across the globe even more important – despite the insular nature of worldwide legal education that will need to be overcome. We will unpick the relationship between Animal Law and Environmental Law and explore the development of scholarship relating to ecocide, personhood and animal welfare – Animal Law has the potential to become a rich area of research. We will discuss the potential impact of the Coronavirus and where Animal Law fits into developing graduating law students who have sufficient awareness and knowledge relevant to the challenges of the 21st century, not the 19th.
Reference:
- Brooman, S., and Dr D. Legge Law Relating to Animals, Cavendish Publishing, 1997
- Brooman, S. 2018. Animal Law in the United Kingdom: Academics, Conferences, A-Law and Student Engagement. Liverpool Law Review 39: 1, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10991-018-9215-0
- Brooman, S. 2017. ‘Creatures, the Academic Lawyer and a Socio-Legal Approach; Introducing Animal Law into the Legal Education Curriculum.’ Liverpool Law Review 38: 3, 243-257. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10991-017-9205-7
Speaker:
Dr Simon Brooman, Senior Lecturer in Law, Liverpool John Moores University
Dr Simon Brooman is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and SEEDS award winner 2020 from the International Society of Animal Rights for his contributions to developing Animal Law in Higher Education. He is a Doctor of Legal Education and widely published in learning and teaching in areas such as reflection, student voice and retention of first year students as well as Animal Law. His current research in legal education centres around the use of refection to improve the employability provision in higher legal education. His Animal Law course at LJMU examines areas such as the history of animal rights and legal approaches to animals,
animal testing, endangered species, fur farming and fox hunting. He is widely published in the area with his seminal book (Law Relating to Animals, Cavendish 1997) co-written with Dr Debbie Legge, being considered to be one of the major stepping stones in developing worldwide Animal Law. His current areas of research in Animal Law include the UK approach to animal sentience and the development of a law of international ecocide embracing the protection of animals.
Dr Deborah Legge, Lecturer in Law, Open University, UK
Dr Deborah Legge is an associate lecturer at the Open University where she has taught on the undergraduate and postgraduate law courses including the introduction to law course, public law, criminal law and research methods. She is a Doctor of Law and has mainly published/worked in the areas of water regulation and environmental law which she taught at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at LJMU. She was involved in the setting up of the animal law course at LJMU and published the seminal book (Law Relating to Animals, Cavendish 1997), and several articles with Dr Simon Brooman. Her current area of research in Animal Law is around the intersection of animal law and the development of a law of international ecocide embracing the protection of animals.