STA, 6 February 2020 - The parliamentary Justice Committee voted on Thursday in favour of an amendment to the property code law that defines animals as sentient beings, taking a step further than the government proposal that upgraded animals from things to living beings.
The amendment, which is in line with the original proposal by the Justice Ministry that was rejected by the government, comes as the MPs of five left-leaning parties - the Marjan Šarec List (LMŠ), the SocDems, the Alenka Bratušek Party (SAB), the Pensioners' Party (DeSUS) and the Left - sided with Justice Minister Andreja Katič on the matter.
The amendment was confirmed on the committee in a 7:1 vote, with Dejan Kaloh of the Democrats (SDS) also saying the SDS would not oppose the amendment, since society had accepted in recent years that animals are sentient beings.
Still, Kaloh believes it would have been better to specify this in the animal protection law as opposed to the property code law.
Reservations due to potential risks were also expressed by Dušan Verbič of the Modern Centre Party (SMC), but Justice Ministry representative insisted the proposed solutions were to the benefit of the citizens and creditors.
One of the worries expressed by the SMC in the past is that this could also lead to demands that animals as sentient beings are no longer eaten.
Meanwhile, Minister Katič explained that certain other laws, for instance the claim enforcement and security act, and the inheritance act, would also be changed in case today's amendment is passed.
