The legal status of animals with regard to fundamental rights and freedoms in the light of the jurisprudence of the european court of human rights

The belief that animals should be protected has become widespread nowadays and there are many regulations in the legal systems regarding the protection of animals. As the issues related to animals gained importance, these issues started to be handled under a separate branch of law called animal law. However, the lack of international regulations on animal welfare has yet to be resolved. This deficiency enables countries to continue to live with low level of animal welfare as well as rendering existing regulations meaningless. Global animal law is emerging as a new field of law for the establishment of common international norms to address this problem. The study focus on the intersection of human rights and animal law issues. Such a study will also be a guide for issues to be encountered in the field of global animal law. The thesis elaborates on the cases addressed by the European Court Of Human Rights. It examines the themes of these cases related to animals and the trends observed on the decisions taken by the Court.