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Doctoral defence of Shih-Yun Wu, M.V.Sc., 26.8.: New study sheds light on animal welfare legislation and how it influences on society in Taiwan

The doctoral dissertation in the field of Criminal Law and Judicial Procedure will be examined at the faculty of Business and Social Sciences at Joensuu.

What is the topic of your doctoral research? Why is it important to study the topic?

The topic of my doctoral research is "Animal Welfare Legislation, Enforcement Mechanism and Influence of Legislation on Society: An Empirical Legal Study in Taiwan". Using legal approaches to provide animals with the minimum standard of protection is still lacking in most countries outside the western world. Thus, in addition to giving workable suggestions for reforming the legal regime in Taiwan, the research findings can have implications for other non-western countries with similar developmental stages of animal welfare legislation to formulate or improve legislation and enforcement mechanisms.

What are the key findings or observations of your doctoral research?

The key findings of my doctoral studies are the deficiencies and problems of the legal regime and enforcement mechanisms for protecting animals in Taiwan and their critical analyses. Besides, what impacts such legislation have brought on society and what implications these impacts have carried for future reform are also the key findings of my doctoral studies. These findings are based on the empirical data collected from three national-scale investigations. They provide insightful and practical perspectives on addressing animal protection-related issues, about which the public are widely concerned.

How can the results of your doctoral research be utilised in practice?

As just mentioned, the findings of my doctoral studies are based on the empirical data and corresponding analyses. Thus, they can provide legislators and competent authorities with more feasible and practical suggestions and planning for improving and reforming the legal regime and enforcement mechanisms for protecting animals in Taiwan.

What are the key research methods and materials used in your doctoral research?

In addition to the comprehensive analysis of the law and its related statutes with doctrinal approaches, the empirical investigations with quantitative and mixed approaches, including such domains as law enforcement and public citizens’ attitudes, were conducted as the main research methods for my doctoral studies.

The doctoral dissertation of Shih-Yun Wu, M.V.Sc., entitled Animal welfare legislation, enforcement mechanism and influence of legislation on society. An Empirical legal study in Taiwan, will be examined at the faculty of Business and Social Sciences on 26.8.2022 at 12 noon online. The Opponent will be Docent Laura Hänninen of the University of Helsinki, and the Custos will be Professor Matti Tolvanen of the University of Eastern Finland. Language of the dissertation event is English. Public examination will be streamed live.

For further information, please contact:
shihyuwu(at)uef.fi