Conference Schedule
A week of unmissable lectures.
Watch live or on demand until end of 2022.
You can wrap around work or personal commitments by catching up on missed sessions via our link to the recording, available only to delegates.
18th July
09:15 am
Registration
We will be chatting over a virtual coffee as we wait for the conference to get started.
09:30 am
Keynote speaker: the relevance of Martin’s Act today
Introducing the conference, Mike Radford will provide the historical context to Martin’s Act, addressing why it was significant then and how it remains relevant to the modern landscape of animal law.
Mike Radford OBE
University of Aberdeen
10:00 am
Animal sentience
What do we mean by the term sentience? Is there a precise dividing line between species who are sentient and those who are not and how is sentience determined? Dr Birch will be addressing these questions and others, arising from the ground breaking report: a ‘Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans’ published by his team at the London School of Economics, in 2021.
Dr Jonathan Birch
London School of Economics
10:45 am
Sentience and the changing position of humans in science and law.
Professor Broom explores animal sentience and how the basic concepts of biology, welfare, and health which are the same for humans and all other animals, should be applied to decisions about production systems, public policies, markets, and consumers to mitigate negative impacts of human activities.
Professor Donald M. Broom
Emeritus Professor of Animal Welfare, Cambridge University
11:30 am
BREAK
A virtual coffee break
12:15 am
Dolphin and whale cognition and self-awareness
Lori Marino, neuroscientist and expert in animal behaviour and intelligence talks about the mental capacities of whales and dolphins and considers the implications of this for captive dolphin and whale welfare.
Dr Lori Marino
Founder and President of the Whale Sanctuary Project
13:00 aM
LUNCH BREAK
14:00 Pm
An Ethological Jurisprudence: The Multispecies Futures of Law
What can non-human animals teach us about law and its making? 200 years ago, the passage of Martin’s Act marked the entry of the non-human animal as a subject before the law, and not merely as a resource to be protected for the law. And now, 200 years later, the UK Government has enacted the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022, with the potential to reconfigure the perspective of policy-making and extra-legislative activity to focus on our relations with non-humans. Indeed, how we understand sentience and policy development in this multispecies and relational way is crucial to the law’s resocialisation. It represents a potential shift in perspective away from the reaction of enforcement to responsive policy-making that focuses on relations. In this presentation, Johanna Gibson will raise the prospect that we are entering an age of what she terms “ethological jurisprudence”, where we consider not only the impact of the law on non-human animals, but also the potential impact of non-human animals on the law.
Johanna Gibson
Herchel Smith Professor of Intellectual Property Law
14:30 Pm
Ecuador’s constitutional protection for nature and the rights of animals
Marcia Condoy Truyenque provides an analysis of the recent landmark decision of the Constitutional Court of Ecuador, confirming that the ‘rights of nature’ extend to wild animals, who can be considered rights holders as a part of nature. She will explain the background to this constitutional protection, its scope and application.
Marcia Condoy Truyenque
Lawyer, Peru
15:15 Pm
Animal personhood
Steven M. Wise, founder and president of the NhRP will outline the legal fight to secure fundamental rights for nonhuman animals through litigation and grass roots advocacy. He will bring us up to date with developments around the world and challenges to come.
Steven M. Wise
President of the Nonhuman Rights Project
16:00 Pm
CLOSE FOR THE DAY
19th July
09:15 am
Registration
We will be chatting over a virtual coffee as we wait for the conference to get started.
09:30 am
Animal law, Australia
The speakers will provide an overview of animal protection law in Australia and progress. They will also discuss the vision of the Australian Alliance for Animals in its mission to achieve systemic change for animals.
Dr Meg Good
Australian Alliance for Animals
Dr Jed Goodfellow
Australian Alliance for Animals
10:15 am
Animal law, Europe and UK
Animal protection law in Europe. Dr Brooman and Dr Legge highlight important developments in the UK and across Europe and share their opinions on the challenges and vision for the future.
Dr Debbie Legge
Open University, UK
Dr Simon Brooman
Liverpool John Moores University
11:00 am
BREAK
Break and chat with our speakers
11:30 am
Legislating against Animal Cruelty: China at a Crossroads.
Peter Li examines the landscape in China for animals in law and policy, where we are now and visions for the future.
Peter Li
Associate professor at University of Houston-Downtown
12:15 pm
Animal law, India
Animal protection law in India. Sonia Shad provides an overview of the legal landscape for animal protection in India, highlighting areas of progress and providing a perspective on challenges and opportunities ahead.
Sonia Shad
Animal protection lawyer
13:00 pM
LUNCH BREAK
14:00 pm
Animal law, South Africa
The development of animal law in South Africa and the modern landscape for animal protection. The speakers will highlight existing realities, important advances and discuss future challenges.
Pofessor David Bilchitz
University of Johannesburg
Amy P Wilson
Attorney, South Africa
14:45 pm
Animal legal advocacy in Africa
How Lawyers for Animal Protection in Africa (LAPA) are achieving strategic change across Africa.
Jim Karani
Attorney at Law & Ph.D. Student in Criminal Justice
15:30 am
BREAK
Break and chat with our speakers
15:45 Pm
Animal law, U.S.A
Animal protection law in the U.S.A. Dr Matthew Liebman addresses developments at federal and state level, identifying the drivers for change and looking ahead to the future.
Professor Matthew Liebman
University of San Francisco
16:30 Pm
CLOSE FOR THE DAY
20th July
09:15 am
Registration
We will be chatting over a virtual coffee as we wait for the conference to get started.
09:30 am
Keynote speaker: Kim Stallwood
Kim Stallwood
Author and scholar
10:15 am
National mechanisms to represent animals in policy
With the UK recently passing the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 Paula Sparks and Steven McCulloch discuss the need for change and how animal interests can be represented in the political decision making process.
Dr Steven McCulloch
UK Centre for Animal Law
Paula Sparks
UK Centre for Animal Law
11:00 am
BREAK
Break and chat with our speakers
11:30 am
Mechanisms to represent animals in international law.
Framing animal welfare in a One Health/One Welfare approach to international law.
Dr Rebeca Garcia Pinillos
Founder, One Welfare
12:15 pm
World Federation for Animals
James Yeates, CEO of the World Federation for Animals outlines his vision for global systemic change and discusses how animal advocacy organisations around the world can help bring this about.
James Yeates
World Federation for Animals
13:00 pM
LUNCH BREAK
14:00 pm
Enshrining animal welfare in trade policy
Can embedding animal welfare values in trade policy lead to improved standards globally? This session looks at what measures can be taken, how trade can incorporate animal welfare ambitious and what is achievable on a global scale.
Emily Rees
Founder of Trade Strategies
14:45 pm
Aquatic Animal Alliance
Catalina Lopez Salazar
Aquatic Animal Alliance
15:30 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
Our panel of speakers will contribute to a discussion about the conundrum of how to safeguard and improve animal welfare standards whilst liberalizing trade and reducing poverty around the world.
16:30 Pm
CLOSE FOR THE DAY
21st July [parallel day 1]
09:15 am
Registration
We will be chatting over a virtual coffee as we wait for the conference to get started.
09:30 am
Animal welfare legislation: what should it look like?
Mike Radford
University of Aberdeen
10:15 am
Sentient Animal Law
Dr Ian Robertson identifies the 3-word law reform that puts the ‘Five Domains’ and positive animal welfare into ‘modern’ animal welfare legislation.
Dr Ian Robertson
Sentient Animal Law
11:00 am
BREAK
Break and chat with our speakers
11:30 am
Protecting animal dignity
Beyond welfare: protecting dignity. What it is and where it could lead. Kate Stoykova explains the legal protection of animal dignity in Swiss law and talks about its potential to move beyond traditional animal welfare.
Kate Stoykova
Lawyer at Tier im Recht, Switzerland
12:15 pm
Specialist wildlife courts: a perspective from Uganda
Gladys Kamasanyu, Chief Magistrate at the Uganda Wildlife Court discusses her work, the importance of the court in tackling wildlife crime and the impact it has had and the challenges faced by the court and wildlife in the region.
Gladys Kamasanyu
Chief Magistrate, Uganda Wildlife Court
13:00 pM
LUNCH BREAK
14:00 pm
Law enforcement: a perspective from on the ground
Former law enforcement officer, Mark Randell discusses his work in Ukraine and Eastern Europe, providing training in animal related law enforcement; he shares his experiences of the most effective legal frameworks for enforcement and discusses challenging aspects for deterrence and punishment.
Mark Randell
Naturewatch Foundation
14:40 pm
Criminal justice: taking animal crime seriously.
Dr Angus Nurse considers how criminal justice systems treat animal related crime, opportunities to identify wider offending patterns and offer early intervention to protect other vulnerable groups. He discusses issues such as sentencing and punishment and whether animals could benefit from other victim initiatives such as Victim Impact Statements to reduce the incidence of future offending.
Dr Angus Nurse
Nottingham Trent University
15:20 pm
Regulatory regimes: removing barriers to progress
David Thomas considers how regulatory regimes can act as a barrier to reducing the number of live animals used in research. Conversely how changes in regulatory systems can facilitate positive change.
David Thomas
Lawyer, Advocates for Animals
16:00 Pm
CLOSE FOR THE DAY
21st July [parallel day 2]
10:45 am
Registration
We will be chatting over a virtual coffee as we wait for the conference to get started.
11:00 am
Keynote speaker: Joyce Tischler
Professor Joyce Tischler
Lewis & Clark Law School
11:45 am
European and UK perspectives on agriculture animal welfare law
EU Directives and Regulations: what do they offer and how can they impact positively on other countries. What are the limitations and how can enforcement be improved? What has been the impact of Brexit at EU level and for the UK?
Peter Stevenson
Lawyer, Compassion in World Farming
Alice Di Concetto
Founder, European Institute for Animal Law & Policy
12:30 pm
Meeting the challenge of industrial agriculture systems in Africa
Judy Muriithi discusses how legal advocacy in Africa is meeting the challenge of CAFO’s. What is the current landscape and challenges, identifying positive developments across the continent.
Judy Muriithi
Animal and Social Justice Attorney, Kenya
13:15 pm
BREAK
14:00 pm
Ending the battery cage age in the United States
Passing cage-free laws and winning corporate campaigns for hens. A case study of eliminating a confinement practice in a country.
Josh Balk
The Humane Society of the United States
14:45 Pm
Industrial agriculture across China, India and Brazil.
Considering the current landscape for industrial agriculture and farming systems across China, India and Brazil.
Each of our three speakers will give a 30 minute presentation outlining current agricultural industry practices, animal welfare protections in law and policy and how legal advocacy is being mobilised for animals within the agricultural systems.
There will then follow a panel discussion with the speakers considering effective routes to change and sharing their visions for the future.
Professor Deborah Cao
Griffiths University, Australia
Sonia Shad
Humane Society International India
Vanessa Garbini
Attorney, Brazil
17:00 Pm
CLOSE FOR THE DAY
22nd July
09:15 am
Registration
We will be chatting over a virtual coffee as we wait for the conference to get started.
09:30 am
Animals on the school curriculum
Ruth de Vere looks at the case for including animal welfare, ethics and nature studies on the school curriculum, asking how education policy can adapt and what impact this may have for society as a whole.
Ruth de Vere
Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
10:15 am
Educational animal use and alternatives
Every year millions of animals across the world are used dissections or invasive experiments, in universities and school. Professor Andrew Knight addresses the necessity and ethics of using animals in education.
Professor Andrew Knight
University of Winchester
10:45 am
Education in Animal Welfare
Sabrina Sehbai considers the role that education can play in animal advocacy and the pursuit of animal protection laws.
Sabrina Sehbai
Director of Join Hands, Pakistan
11:15 am
BREAK
11:30 am
Exotic animal cafes in Japan
Exotic animal cafe conditions in Japan – a valuable forum to promote empathy and connection with nature or exploitation of exotic species? Georgina Groves discusses such cafes found in Japan and how to safeguard biodiversity and animal welfare through law and policy.
Georgina Groves
Co-founder of Wild Welfare, International NGO
12:00 am
Visions for the future
We hand over to the younger members of our audience who have elected to share their own personal perspectives; what they most want to see changed and where their priorities lie. Contributions welcome in the form of short presentations, poems or visual art.
13:00 aM
CONFERENCE CLOSES