View Specification DocumentAnimal Law LAW4156
- Academic Session: 2026-27
- School: School of Law
- Credits: 20
- Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
- Typically Offered: Semester 2
- Available to Visiting Students: Yes
- Curriculum For Life: No
Short Description
This course examines the way in which animals are treated under the law and will consider the legal, moral and ethical considerations relevant to their legal treatment. The course will examine the historical and contemporary approach of the law to animals and their welfare and examine the work of selected contemporary animal rights theorists.
Timetable
There will be 10 x 2-hour seminars spread throughout semester 2.
Requirements of Entry
This course is only available to LLB students.
Excluded Courses
None.
Co-requisites
None.
Assessment
Essay: 2000 words. It will be worth 25% of the overall assessment.
Examination: 2 hours. Students will be expected to answer 2 questions from 4. It will be worth 75% of the overall assessment.
Main Assessment In: April/May
Course Aims
The aim of the course is to introduce students to key concepts in animal law and to provide them with a grounding in the comparative approaches, primarily in the common law world, to questions of animal status and welfare. The course will investigate developments in scientific experimentation with animals and the legal and ethical questions that arise in this area.
Intended Learning Outcomes of Course
By the end of this course students will be able to:
■ Explain the historical development of animal welfare legislation in the United Kingdom and the forces and ideas that influenced it.
■ Produce sustained legal arguments relative to the legal and ethical treatment of companion animals, production animals and wild animals with reference to UK law and the law of other systems studied.
■ Evaluate theoretical positions relating to the use of animals in research and demonstrate and understanding of the law relevant to animal welfare.