From anthropocentric law to the biocentric approach, a posible expansion of the recognition of subjects of rights

Abstract

This article analyzes the evolution of the legal recognition of animals as subjects of rights, taking as its starting point Judgment No. 253-20-JH, issued by the Constitutional Court of Ecuador in 2022. This judgment, in addition to marking a milestone in the country, became a benchmark for Latin American constitutionalism by recognizing animal sentience and linking it to the rights of nature enshrined in the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution. Thus, the primary objective is to understand the legal scope of this ruling in order to grasp its implications for the construction of a normative framework that moves beyond traditional anthropocentrism. Methodologically, the article employs documentary analysis and hermeneutical interpretation of normative, jurisprudential, and doctrinal sources in constitutional and inter-American systems where this issue has been legally analyzed. It also examines how this precedent relates to other emblematic cases of animal law in the international arena. In conclusion, animal rights are consolidating themselves as a new frontier of law that explores the possibility of a path towards a biocentric approach to law, which will depend on the context of its development, for the possibility of a true legal consolidation full of novel challenges.