LEGAL IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROPOSED ANCHORING OF ANIMAL PROTECTION IN THE CONSTITUTION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT TO RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION
The article deals with the possible legal implications of enshrining the state goal of animal protection in the Constitution of the Czech Republic, as proposed by a group of members of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic. It first focuses on the effects of such a constitutional provision on the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government. In this respect, it deals in particular with the obligation of the legislator to fulfil the requirements arising from the constitutional protection of animals through its normative activities. Subsequently, the article analyses the relation of the constitutional protection of animals to fundamental rights, especially to the fundamental right to religious expression enshrined in Article 16(1) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the Czech Republic. In relation to this fundamental right, the article attempts to answer the possible question of the constitutional conformity of the so-called ritual slaughters carried out on the basis of Section 5f of Act No. 246/1992 Coll., on the protection of animals against cruelty, if the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the Czech Republic is adopted. It concludes that, at least to the extent that the law permits churches and religious societies to carry out ritual slaughter for purposes other than their own religious needs, this legislation would be constitutionally inconsistent.
Mgr. Petr Šuráň
Mgr. Petr Šuráň je doktorandem na Katedře ústavního práva Právnické fakulty Univerzity Palackého v Olomouci.
