About the Speaker

Antoine F. Goetschel, Dr. iur. and Dr. h.c., in addition to his Zurich law firm, has been dedicated to the promotion of animal welfare through the law for some forty years, as co-author of the Swiss and German Animal Welfare Act, (co-)author of over twelve books on animals in law and ethics in Switzerland and now globally as president of the Global Animal Law GAL Association (www.globalanimallaw.org). In 1995, he established the Swiss Foundation for Animals in Law with its public library of over 23,000 books and essays on animals in law and ethics and its database of over 30,000 criminal animal protection cases in Switzerland and headed it until 2007. From then until 2010, he was the world’s only “Attorney for Animal Protection in Criminal Matters” in the Canton of Zurich elected by the Government Council at the suggestion of animal protection organisations. With his team, he has drafted and is working towards the realization of a convention on animal protection and health in the United Nations (www.uncahp.org), and is dedicated, among other fields in animal law, to the creation of formal “animal lawyers” in criminal and administrative proceedings and animal friendly investments.

About the Topic

As the largest marginalised group in society in terms of numbers, animals are currently under pressure in law, business and society. The fate of so-called farm animals, laboratory animals, pets, wild animals, and sporting animals is darkening in times of emotional and economic constraints. What incentives can be used to promote animal welfare and animal health, including aspects of One Health, pandemic prevention, and antibiotic resistance, in Hamburg, Germany and worldwide? Does the issue of an animal advocate in court and administrative proceedings belong on the agenda of regional and national governments or the United Nations – for example, with the draft UN Convention on Animal Health and Protection (UNCAHP)? As the world’s only former official “animal lawyer”, Swiss lawyer, author and president of the Global Animal Law GAL Association, the speaker will take us by the hand on his journey into the legal “animal” world with pragmatic visions.

The lecture will be held as a hybrid event, i.e. you are welcome to participate either in person at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Mittelweg 187, 20148 Hamburg, or via Zoom.

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