The significance and legal assessment of Zoophilia and Zoophilic Acts, with special reference to Hungary

Abstract

The recognition of the inherent intrinsic value of living beings clearly characterizes the legislation of Europe in the last few decades, a process that can be seen in the refinement of the legal status of animals, in the increasingly detailed regulations of animal welfare rules, in the tightening of regulations against animal cruelty, in some constitutional changes, and in the prohibitions related to zoophilic acts. Zoophilia is as old as humanity, and although the attitude towards it was not uniform in different historical eras, it was rather negatively judged and prohibited. It is important to distinguish between zoophilia as a psychiatric paraphilia and zoophilic acts as legally relevant acts. In the past few years, sexual abuse committed against vulnerable groups has been in the spotlight in Europe, society's sensitivity is growing and we can witness the tightening of regulations. Although animals cannot be considered victims in the narrow legal sense due to their lack of legal capacity, these processes will also affect the legal assessment of zoophilic acts. In the case of zoophilia, there seems to be a high latency, few cases come to light, but they cause strong public indignation. In the long term, it is likely that even those countries that currently do not sanction or do not sanction zoophilia at the criminal law level (such as Hungary) will take stronger action against it in the future.