University rep have been ordered to attend court to respond to petition

A New York judge has granted two chimpanzees held at a research lab the same rights as human prisoners, after a two year legal battle by an animal rights organization.

The two primates, currently living in a lab at Stony Brook University, are the first animals in history to be covered by a writ of habeas corpus, allowing their detention to be challenged.

A representative of the Long Island university have been ordered to appear in court to respond to a petition by the Nonhuman Rights Project that chimps Hercules and Leo are 'unlawfully detained.'

Making history: The two chimpanzees, living in a lab at Stony Brook University, Long Island, (not pictured) are the first animals to be granted the same rights as human prisoners

The decision by New York Supreme Court Justice Barbara Jaffe effectively recognises the chimpanzees as legal humans, the American Association for the Advancement of Science reports.

The lawsuits were originally filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project in December 2013, in an attempt to free Hercules and Leo and two other chimpanzees living on private property.

Although the courts threw out the suits, the animal rights' group has been appealing ever since, and have now been granted the writ of habeas corpus on behalf of the Stony Brook chimpanzees.

A Stony Brook representative have been ordered to appear in court next month to respond the petition which argues that the chimps should be set free and moved to a sanctuary in Florida.

'We are claiming that chimpanzees are autonomous,' The Nonhuman Rights Project's founder Massachusetts lawyer Steven Wise said in an interview last year.

A representative of the university have been ordered to appear in a New York court next month to respond the petition which argues that Leo and Hercules should be set free and moved to a sanctuary (stock image)

'That is, being able to self-determine, be self-aware, and be able to choose how to live their own lives.'

The 2013 lawsuits include affidavits from scientists who say chimpanzees have complex cognitive abilities, such as awareness of the past and the ability to make choices, and display complex emotions such as empathy.

Although Judge Jaffe's ruling only requires a Stony Brook University representative to attend a hearing regarding Hercules and Leo next month, it can be used to set precedent for further legal action.

'This is a big step forward to getting what we are ultimately seeking: the right to bodily liberty for chimpanzees and other cognitively complex animals,' Natalie Prosin, the Executive Director of the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) told the AAAS.

'We got our foot in the door. And no matter what happens, that door can never be completely shut again.'