Animals and legal personality

- a thread

(Yes, Brexit and Trump and Covid, but sometimes other law and policy issues are worth considering too...)

I will add to this thread throughout the day

1.

At @FT I have done this post - please click and read if you can: https://www.ft.com/content/b6f0b022-2c70-42c3-b850-ab6b48841fcf

In this thread I am going to expand on the arguments and points I make there, without the constraint of a word-count and being able to link to more materials

2.

To begin: what is "legal personality"?

First, it is not saying a thing is a human

Instead, a human is just one of many things recognised by law as having personality

The class of legal persons comprises both natural persons (ie, humans) and artificial persons

3.

In essence: to have legal personality means two things - separate standing before a court, and capacity of having rights and/or liabilities

Some legal persons have full legal capacity - and can do most things a human can do

But some legal persons have v limited capacity

4.

A legal person has whatever rights or liabilities the law provides

A huge area of law - the doctrine of 'ultra vires' - is about what legal persons can and cannot do

So to say a thing should have legal personality is not to say it should have all the rights of a human

5.

Therefore to say a thing should have legal personality is to say: (1) its distinct existence should be recognised at law; (2) it has standing to be heard in a court; (3) it has rights (and/or liabilities) conferred by law; and (4) those rights (or liabilities) can be enforced

6.