Animalia, quid ergo estis ? Les animaux fantômes du droit

International audienceIn 2015, the French parliament voted an amendment to the law establishing that animals are « living beings capable of sensitivity ». This new disposition was incorporated in a new article 515- 14 of the Civil Code inserted in introduction to the Book II : « Of property and of the various modifications of ownership ». The article has been considered as a legal revolution in favor of the animal cause by some analysts and denounced as a pure symbolic legislative act by some others. Four years after its adoption, French tribunals have integrated this legal evolution into their judgements and the aftermaths seems to appear very poor as some animal activists are falling into violent actions. In 2019, what is/are the French legal status to be applied to animals ? What is/are the legal regime/s they are submitted to ? Instead of providing an appropriate clarification to the law, the 2015 amendment seems to have blurred the civil law more than ever in a field that was already very much disorderly