Prolegomena – Moderator (Mathias Couturier)

Introduction – Moderator: Mathias COUTURIER (Associate Professor in Private Law, University of Caen Normandy)

Introductory remarks by Mathias COUTURIER, Associate Professor in Private Law at the University of Caen Normandy.

This international colloquium, supported by the MRSH, was organized under the auspices of the Normandy Chair for Peace, with the support of the Demolombe Institute, Caen la Mer and the University of Caen Normandy. The event was placed under the high patronage of Jean-Paul COSTA, President of the René Cassin Foundation, Honorary State Counselor and former President of the European Court of Human Rights.

The first of its kind in Normandy, this symposium aimed to question the meaning and definition of the notion of animal sentience and to reflect on the implementation of innovative legal mechanisms for better protection of animals. The identification of the notion of animal sentience: which animals and which sensibility(ies) are we talking about?