France | World Animal Protection

At the European Union (EU) level, based on the 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam, Article 13 forms part of the Lisbon Treaty, signed in 2007, which subsequently became the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Article 13 of the TFEU explicitly recognises animal sentience and requires that Member States ‘pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals’ in formulating and implementing European Union policies on agriculture, fisheries, transport, research and technological development.

Article 9 of Law 76-629 of 1976 on the Protection of Nature declares that animals are sentient beings, however, this applies only to animals who are owned, thus excluding free-living animals. Article 9 provides that all animals, as they are sentient beings, must be placed by their owners in conditions that are compatible with the biological imperative requirements of their species.

The Rural and Maritime Fishing Code also recognises owned animals as sentient beings, using the same wording (in Article L214-1) as in Law 76-629.

The Penal Code also makes a distinction between offences against animals and offences against property.

Until 2015, the French Civil Code classified animals as either ‘moveable or immoveable assets’ (Articles 524 and 528). Following a long campaign led by animal protection organisations, the French National Assembly approved on 28 January 2015 an amendment to the Civil Code recognising animals as sentient. The Civil Code was formally amended on 26 February 2015 to recognise that animals are ‘living beings gifted with sentience’ (Article 515-14). In order to ensure consistency, subsequent articles in the Civil Code, such as 524 and 528, do not include animals in the moveable or immoveable asset categories. Article 515-14 of the Civil Code carries on stating ‘subject to the laws which protect them, animals are subject to the regime of goods’. 

Analysis

Article 13 of the TFEU is a fundamentally important principle, providing a legal recognition of sentience and requirement for member states to pay full regard to the welfare requirements of animals when formulating and implementing European policy. However, it is important to note that as Article 13 represents a minimum standard to which any government must commit, its scope and impact for animals is limited.

Whilst positive that Article 13 explicitly acknowledges animal sentience, the requirement that member states pay ‘full regard’ to animal welfare is vague and does not create a precise and enforceable duty. Article 13 does not cover every type of new law, and applies only to ‘agriculture, fisheries, transport, internal market, research and technological development and space policies. Additionally, there is currently a derogation in Article 13 for ‘cultural practices’. France has used this derogation to continue unacceptable practices such as bullfighting and foie gras production, under the protection of Article 13.  

France has a long history of animal protection and was one of the first countries to introduce animal protection legislation with its 1850 Grammont Law on Animal Mistreatments that made it an offence to mistreat domestic animals in public. France was one of the first countries to recognise some animals as sentient beings through the 1976 Law on the Protection of Nature. Today, broad principles stemming from the 1976 Law are applied to animals under human care and implemented via Articles L.214-1 to L.214-3 of the Rural Code; namely, that animals are sentient beings and must be placed by their owners in conditions that suit their biological imperatives and that it is forbidden to abuse or to mistreat them. Companion animals, farm animals, other domesticated animals, animals in laboratories and wild animals held in captivity are therefore covered by this protection. Wild animals and ownerless domesticated animals are not covered by this recognition of sentience.

The 2015 amendment to the Civil Code represents a step forward towards better animal protection. Widely acclaimed as the outcome of a 10-year reflections and 10-month Parliamentary debate, this amendment is seen as historic to recognise animals for their intrinsic rather than commercial value. Through this amendment, the Civil Code now aligns with the two other Codes (Rural and Maritime Fishing and Penal) in acknowledging animals as sentient beings. This is also consistent with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This coherence amongst Codes will hopefully allow for further amendments in favour of animal protection to be adopted more easily in various legislations.

This amendment is, however, restricted in two main ways. Firstly, the recognition of sentience is limited to certain categories of animals. Neither wild animals nor ownerless domesticated animals are covered by this definition of sentience. Furthermore, though the latest scientific evidence available to date shows that some invertebrates are sentient (i.e. cephalopods and decapod crustaceans), the French law is only applicable to vertebrates.  

Furthermore, the practical implications of this amendment are limited since just after acknowledging animals as sentient beings, Article 515-14 of the Civil Code carries on stating that ‘subject to the laws that protect them, animals are subject to the regime of goods’. In practice, therefore, animals remain treated as goods.

Despite the Civil Code having been amended, this reform appears to be more a symbolic measure than a concrete achievement for animals. If this amendment grants a highly needed sentient status to animals, it is extremely limited in the sense that no protection regime is associated with this new definition of animals as sentient. In short, even though animals are no longer defined as ‘goods’, they remain under the same protection regime as goods. The usefulness of this definition change without associated protection laws has been put in question.

Enforcement mechanisms

The Penal Code makes it an offence to physically abuse or sexually abuse, or to commit an act of cruelty to a domesticated animal, or a tamed animal, or an animal held in captivity. The maximum penalty is two years’ imprisonment and a €30,000 fine (Article 521-1). Offenders may also be prohibited from keeping animals for a period of five years or more, and be prevented from working with animals.

Key recommendations

• Given the extensive body of scientific evidence proving that animals are sentient, the Government of France is urged to amend the provisions of the Civil Code, the Penal Code and the Rural and Maritime Fishing Code to recognise that all animals for whom there is scientific evidence – at a minimum, all vertebrates, cephalopods and decapods crustaceans – are sentient beings and to enshrine this principle into legislation. Recognising animals as sentient will underpin further animal welfare considerations. As such, the sentence in Article 515-14 of the Civil Code stating that animals are subject to the regime of goods should be repealed.