Over the years, a lot has been said about the inhumane treatment many animals get when confined, particularly when it comes to certain species of apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas, as they're evolutionarily the closest human relatives and have more sentient capacities - and these were the arguments used to grant these two chimpanzees legal rights.

A few months back, a similar case involving an orangutan in Buenos Aires saw an Argentine judge grant the ape rights as a "non-human person" following claims that a 29 year-old orangutan was being treated unfairly and shouldn't be considered an "object" but rather a sentient being - and now the two chimpanzees' legal rights status see a further step in animal rights.

According to The Guardian, the two chimpanzees with legal rights are called Hercules and Leo and they're currently being used for experimental medical treatments at a Long Island university, but a new ruling has stated that they're being "detained unlawfully."

Time Magazine reports that the court order that granted the two chimpanzees with legal rights was made in the New York County Supreme Court at the hand of judge Barbara Jaffe, who had originally invoked habeas corpus for the case but later backed down; however, her new decision is final.

Habeas corpus is a law doctrine that establishes persons with protection against unlawful imprisonment - and the New York case of the chimpanzees' legal rights marks the first time ever this is ever applied to animals.

NPR reports that the Nonhuman Rights Project filed the original lawsuit in December 2013 against Stony Brook University in the Supreme Court of Suffolk County, but that particular court refused to grant the apes with legal rights.

In any case, Jaffe's ruling also stated that the university had to appear in court on May 6 to give reason enough for keeping Hercules and Leo, who are being detained illegally - thus granting the two chimpanzees with legal rights the possibility of being freed.