Derechos de la naturaleza: antinomia Código civil y Constitución.

Abstract

This research project analyzes the conflict between Article 585 of the Civil Code and the 2008 Constitution, specifically regarding the legal status of animals in Ecuador,highlighting a contradiction that persists to this day. The Constitution recognizes Nature and its constituent elements as subjects of rights, a legal protection that extends to animals, whereas civil law classifies them as movable property specifically, livestock or semovientes. The Constitutional Court made history in 2022 by recognizing animals as subjects of rights in the ruling concerning "Estrellita," a woolly monkey; this decision was grounded in the principles of interspecies relations and ecological interpretation, which in turn drew upon the principle of sentience, the recognition that animals are capable of experiencing sensations and emotions. This project aims to demonstrate how the Civil Code represents a regression from the biocentric approach established by the 2008 Constitution. It also examines how various legislative proposals seeking to recognize animals as subjects of rights have been marred by legal inconsistencies and have failed to improve upon existing sanctions for abandonment, largely due to a lack of genuine commitment from the competent authorities.