On this day in vegan history · May 17, 2002
Germany Puts Animals in Its Constitution
Months after a Muslim butcher won the right to slaughter without stunning, German lawmakers who had blocked animal rights for years suddenly found the votes to add three words to the constitution.
The facts
- Vote
- Bundestag, 543 to 19, May 17, 2002
- Amendment
- Added "and animals" to Article 20a of the Basic Law
- Took effect
- August 1, 2002
- Precedent
- First EU country to add animal protection to its national constitution
On May 17, 2002, the Bundestag voted 543 to 19 to add the words "and animals" to Article 20a of the Basic Law, the clause that already bound the German state to protect the natural foundations of life for future generations. The amendment had been tried before and had failed, blocked mainly by Christian Democrats worried it would hand courts a new weapon against medical and scientific research on animals. What broke the standoff was a January 2002 ruling from the Federal Constitutional Court, which found that a Muslim butcher in Germany had a religious right to slaughter animals without first stunning them. The public reaction was loud, and lawmakers who had stalled the amendment for years found a two-thirds majority within months. Germany became the first country in the European Union to write animal protection into its national constitution.
In their words
The day in the words of the people who were there. Every quote is verbatim, and every source links out so you can check it.
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Mindful also of its responsibility towards future generations, the state shall protect the natural foundations of life and animals by legislation and, in accordance with law and justice, by executive and judicial action, all within the framework of the constitutional order.
Article 20a, Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, as amended in 2002
Source: Gesetze im Internet (official German government translation) -
The occupation of a Muslim butcher is also characterised by religious acts, e.g. the invocation of Allah.
Federal Constitutional Court, judgment of 15 January 2002, case 1 BvR 1783/99
Source: Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court)
Why it still matters
It gave animal protection real legal weight in Germany, a state objective courts must now weigh against rights like freedom of religion and freedom of research, and it became the example other EU countries pointed to when arguing their own constitutions should do the same.
Sources
This history is still being written.
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