Parameters of Substantive Law

Chapter 8 shows ways to meaningfully connect the various jurisdictional tools to protect animals abroad to substantive law, and determines whether substantive law puts constraints on them. A central question at this intersection is whether states can use extraterritorial jurisdiction to lower standards abroad, for example, as a side effect to lucrative trade deals. Insights from general international, trade, and animal law will help illuminate this question. The author then determines the level of consistency animal laws must maintain to survive the scrutiny of international law. The author creates a hierarchy of presumptions to guide public authorities in their decisions about which animal laws, at a minimum, meet the requirements of beneficence and consistency. The chapter concludes with an argument that states should have a duty to protect animals abroad, and that corporations should have a duty to respect animals abroad, akin to the obligations set up under the UN “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework.