Animal Law and Policy (LAWS90168)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5Not available in 2022
From 2023 most subjects will be taught on campus only with flexible options limited to a select number of postgraduate programs and individual subjects.
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About this subject
Overview
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This subject provides an introduction to the large and amorphous field of law referred to as 'animal law'. Students will survey areas of the law that affect non-human animals and their treatment by humans in particular. Beginning with some larger definitional and philosophical questions about animals, the subject then covers different contexts in which animals encounter the law: as victims of crimes, as human companions, as research subjects, as sources of entertainment, and as sources of food. The jurisdictional focus of the course is the U.S. and Australia with some attention to other jurisdictions and to international law.
Principal topics are likely to include:
- Introduction to Animal Law: What are animals? Who are animals? Where are they? Are some species more worthy of protection than others? What are our obligations to them and why? How can we understand them as clients?
- Criminal law and animal protection
- Tort law and other civil liability and protection
- Companion animals
- Animals in entertainment
- Animal use in medical and scientific research and product testing
- Farmed animals and legal frameworks for animal welfare regulation
- Property law and the evolution of rights
- Contracts and custody disputes
- Wildlife and captive wildlife
- Animal rights: legal theory and practice: standing and personhood
- The development of animal law in Australia, the US and other countries
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Be able to critically examine, analyse, interpret and assess the extent to which the law adequately protects animals at present with reference to ethical and policy analyses of human and animal relationships
- Have an advanced and integrated understanding of laws that relate to animals and human relationships with animals in Australia in comparison with the US and other countries
- Have a sophisticated appreciation of the ethical assumptions and cultural norms driving the way the law currently governs relations between humans and animals
- Be an engaged participant in debate regarding emerging and contemporary issues in the field, such as whether and how the law should grant rights to animals, reform to farmed animal welfare regulation and live export rules, and possibilities for law to encourage a transition out of animal use for food, scientific testing and other commercial purposes
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
None
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
None
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are offered in the discipline of law at an advanced graduate level. While every effort will be made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, concessions will not be made in the general level of instruction or assessment. Most subjects assume the knowledge usually acquired in a degree in law (LLB, JD or equivalent). Applicants should note that admission to some subjects in the Melbourne Law Masters will be dependent upon the individual applicant’s educational background and professional experience.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class participation | Throughout the teaching period | 10% |
Short research assignment and leading a discussion | To be advised in class | 20% |
Research Paper
| 23 June | 70% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance. Note: the attendance hurdle does not apply when the subject is delivered online. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
Not available in 2022
Additional delivery details
This subject has a quota of 30 students.
Enrolment is on a 'first in' basis. Waitlists are maintained for subjects that are fully subscribed.
Students should note priority of waitlisted places in subjects will be given as follows:
- To currently enrolled Graduate Diploma and Masters students with a satisfactory record in their degree
- To other students enrolling on a single subject basis, eg Community Access Program (CAP) students, cross-institutional study and cross-faculty study.
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters website for further information about the management of subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 8 November 2024
Further information
- Texts
- Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 8 November 2024