The latest changes made to the draft of the Animal Welfare Law, approved by the Legislative Assembly in the first reading on November 21st, 2016, violates the Political Constitution, according to the Constitutional Court.
The Court issued the ruling following a constitutional consultation conducted by several legislators led by the libertarian Otto Guevara.
The text of the ruling indicates that this bill violates the constitutional principles of minimum intervention, reasonableness and proportionality in the sentence “nonhuman mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and octopus capable of feeling pain contained therein rules”.
The ruling adds that
No substantive or procedural defects were found in the other arguments alleged by the consulting legislators.”
In a previous consultation,
the Court established that there is a constitutional basis for protection against animal abuse, since protection is a duty of the State, but it must be done in accordance with the constitutional parameters established for the promulgation of crimes.”