Beyond The Property-Person Binary: A Fiduciary Framework For Interspecies Jurisprudence
- IJLLR Journal
- Feb 24
- 1 min read
Priyansh Singh, B.A., LL.B., National Law University Delhi
ABSTRACT
The article examines the current jurisprudential landscape analysing the historical classification of animals as chattel and how it is at odds with the emerging scientific evidence on non-human sentience. It argues that the current animal welfare statutes are inadequate and the standard advocacy for a legal personhood is problematic as it faces profound systemic barriers such as the liability problem and takings dilemma.
Through a comparative analysis of the American legal formalism, New Zealand’s innovation and the Indian judicial activism, it is uncovered why the judicial declarations, although bold, remain symbolic and unimplementable.
The article proposes a pragmatic shift from the rigid property-person bifurcation to a much more nuanced framework of Sentient Legal Subjectivity. This model integrates three core pillars: (1) a Functional Intelligence Test; (2) a Fiduciary Stewardship approach; and (3) a State- backed Liability Fund.
Ultimately, the article contends that the evolution of interspecies justice requires a transition from “Judicial Leaps” to a robustStatutory Architecture that aligns well the inherent interests of sentient beings and also answers the practical realities of tort, property, and administrative law.
