The Concept of the Normative Dereification of an Animal in Polish Law
The Concept of the Normative Dereification of an Animal in Polish Law

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article is normative dereification, which was enacted in the Polish legal system on the basis of the provisions of the Act of 21 August 1997 on animal protection. These provisions indicate that an animal, as a living being capable of experiencing suffering, is not a thing, and at the same time they stipulate the need for the appropriate application of the provisions on things to animals in matters not regulated by this Act. The aim of the article is to determine the significance of such dereification for the definition of the legal status of an animal in Polish law, and its impact on the form of the model of animal protection in Poland. The basis of the findings in this respect is a formal legal analysis of the Polish legal acts regulating the principles of animal protection, and animals’ status as the object of a legal relationship. The study organises and summarises the views on the legal standing of animals, and the concept of their normative dereification, as expressed in the rulings of Polish courts, and in the Polish legal literature.

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