- 期刊
- OpenAccess
Rebalancing Animal Welfare and Religious Freedom: A Comparative Analysis of EU Cases
重新平衡動物福利和宗教自由：歐盟法院判決的比較分析
摘要
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) recently deliberated a series of consecutive cases concerning the protection of animal welfare in the context of religious rites. The preliminary rulings-all delivered by Grand Chambers according to Article 267 TFEU-in 2018 affirmed the validity of an EU wide regulation requiring religious rites without stunning be carried out in approved slaughterhouses, in 2019 prohibited the issuance of organic certifications for meat products derived from religious butchering without pre-stunning, and in 2020 upheld a regional decree prescribing reversible stunning for religious slaughter. The fact that the latter two decisions departed from the Opinion of the Advocate General accentuated the highly controversial nature and intensified ongoing debates about the justification and significance of these milestone judgments. In the light of such extraordinary developments, this article ponders the arguments underlying the verdicts as well as their far-reaching practical implications. Moreover, the analysis reflects on the legitimate interests that were at stake for the parties, namely freedom of religion, free movement of goods, animal welfare, consumer protection and public health. Based on a comparative approach that takes into account not only the current status but also the historic evolution of EU laws, the study above all unveils a spectrum of changing parameters that have transformed the concept of animal welfare, thus warranting a rebalancing of competing interests within the legal framework. As a result, this paper provides valuable insights and recommendations to resolve conflicting values, aims, principles and policies of the European Union. The discussion enhances a better understanding of fundamental relations between the Union and its Member States, notably in view of allocated powers and competences implanted in the EU Treaties. By highlighting the overriding impact factor of time from a multidimensional perspective, the author contributes to a deeper awareness of the dynamic nature of the EU.
並列摘要
歐盟法院（CJEU）最近審議了一系列關於宗教儀式與保護動物福利的案件。這些都是由大法庭根據歐洲聯盟運作條約第267條（Article 267 TFEU）作出的判決在2018年確認了一項歐盟法規的效力，該法規要求未經致昏的宗教儀式只能在被批准的屠宰場進行。另外，歐盟法院在2019年禁止為來自宗教屠宰無事先致昏的肉類產品頒發有機認證，並在2020年維持了一項區域法令，指示宗教屠宰應實施可逆致昏。後兩個判決背離了佐審官的意見，這一事實突出了分歧的高度爭議性，又加劇了對這些里程碑判例的辯論。鑑於這些特殊的發展，本文探討了判決背後的論點及其深遠的實際影響。除此之外，這片文章深思了所涉及各方當事人的合法利益，即宗教自由、貨物自由流動、動物福利、消費者保護和公共衛生。基於比較方法不僅面向歐盟法律的現狀還考慮到歐盟法律的歷史演變，該研究尤其揭露了一些轉換動物福利概念的變化參數，從而必需在歐盟框架內重新平衡利益競爭。它的結果，本分析提供了寶貴的見識和建議，以解決歐盟相互衝突的價值觀、目標、原則和政策。而且討論增強了對歐盟與其成員國之間基本關係的理解，特別也注意到植入歐盟條約中的權力分配。作者從多維角度強調時間的重大影響因素，因此有助於更深入地察覺歐盟的動態本質。