The Antwerp Centre for Continental Animal Law organises and participates in a range of academic events that advance its mission to foster analytical, civil law-based approaches to the legal status of animals. These activities provide platforms for scholarly exchange, education, and collaboration across the European animal law community.
Recurring Activities
Annual Summer School in Animal Law, Rights and Representation
Each summer, the Centre organises a one-week intensive summer school bringing together students and early-career researchers from across Europe and beyond. The programme features lectures by international guest scholars on key topics in animal law, including legal theory, comparative law, and legislative developments. A central component of the summer school is the moot court on animal rights, judged by a panel of three leading scholars in the field.
Guest Lectures in Belgium and the Netherlands
Researchers affiliated with the Centre regularly contribute to academic courses in Belgian and Dutch universities. These guest lectures introduce students to the fundamentals of animal law in the civil law tradition and reflect the Centre’s commitment to academic outreach and teaching.
Other Activities
Conference Contribution: Animal Rights within Rights of Nature
On 25-26 April 2025, ongoing research will be presented at the Conference 'Animal Rights within Nature's Rights' at the University of RIjeka, Croatia.
Conference: Access to Justice for Animals in Europe
1 July 2025, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Hamburg Organised under the Access to Justice for Animals project, this international conference explores the possibility of an ‘Aarhus Convention for animals’. It brings together legal scholars, practitioners, and policymakers to examine procedural and substantive dimensions of access to justice for non-human animals. Keynote speakers include MEP Nils Fuglsang (Intergroup on the Welfare and Conservation of Animals) and Prof. Thomas Schomerus (member of the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee).
Conference: The Legal Distinction Between Persons and Things – Changing Perspectives
7-8 July 2025, University of Antwerp Hosted by the Centre’s research group Personal and Property Rights, this conference addresses conceptual and doctrinal shifts in the legal distinction between persons and things. Several parallel sessions are devoted to the evolving status of animals in private law, exploring both theoretical and practical implications.
Conference Contribution: LEGACY Conference on Agency
16–18 August 2025, University of Helsinki The Centre will be represented at the LEGACY project conference on legal agency, where Dr Eva Bernet Kempers will present on animal powers in continental law. This contribution aligns with the Centre’s third research pillar, which investigates the future development of legal status for animals in the civil law tradition.
2025 Summer School
25–29 August 2025, University of Antwerp This year’s edition of the summer school will feature lectures by leading animal law scholars, including Dr Sean Butler and Dr Raffael Fasel of the Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law (UK). As in previous editions, the programmeincludes advanced seminars, practical workshops, and a moot court focused on current legal challenges in animal rights law.
Past activities