In this session, Ankita Shanker discusses the discrepancy between those who hold fundamental rights and those whose rights are formally recognized and legally protected. In doing so, she exposes an egregious gap in the law between its underlying values and its efficacy (or lack thereof) in upholding them through its provisions. First, she explains why animals have fundamental rights and what this means. Next, she outlines how the recognition and protection of fundamental rights and associated notions have evolved over time. This evolution has reached the point where all human beings are beneficiaries, but non-human animals are still inexplicably excluded from its scope. Ankita argues that the law should continue to evolve until the fundamental rights of all rights-holders, human and non-human, are recognized and protected. Finally, she briefly addresses why we need to respect animal rights, not just qua animal rights, but also as a means to solve a number of the world`s most pressing problems, many of which pose an existential risk to humans as well.

You can download the slides of the presentation here. Please note that the content of the slides is the intellectual property of Ankita Shanker and the reuse or reproduction of the material therein must give credit to her.