Non-human animals in law: from objects to subjects?

How much do you really know about animal rights?
Let's hear what Professor Raffaele Caterina has got to tell us.

The following statement is widespread nowadays: Animals are not things.

That is what is enshrined, for example, in Article 641a of the Swiss Civil Code.

Notwithstanding, one cannot claim they are regarded and protected as humans.
A number of complex issues currently define the legal status of animals, or rather, certain categorised groups of animals, setting them apart from objects.

It ranges from criminal protection against mistreatment up to the regulation of pet custody in marital crises.

By examining such profiles and underlying theoretical assumptions, an assessment can be made as to whether and to what extent this status actually actually implies the recognition of animals in their own right, bearing interests worthy of legal protection.

Raffaele Caterina is a full professor of Private Law at the University of Turin. He has been teaching there since 2005. He was Director of the Department of Law at the same university from 2018 to 2024. He has been a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of Turin since 2018.

His major area of research is the contribution of cognitive science to legal studies. He edited the first Italian book on the subject: I fondamenti cognitivi del diritto, Cognitive Foundations of Law, Bruno Mondadori, 2008. He is a noted expert in Italian civil law, focusing on property, possession, family law, and consumer law.

He has been a member of the Steering Committee of the law journal Giurisprudenza Italiana since 2010.

Among his monographs, the following are noteworthy:

- La famiglia, The family, Giappichelli, with L. Lenti, 2022;

- Il possesso, The possession, Giuffré, 2014, with R. Sacco;

- Le persone fisiche, Natural Persons, Giappichelli, 2012;

- Storie di locazioni e di fantasmi, Stories of Leases and Ghosts, Rubbettino, 2011;

- Usufrutto, uso, abitazione, superficie, Usufruct, Use, Dwelling, Surface Rights, UTET, 2009.