Text file: 6039.txt
author: Magnolija
downvotes: 13
end consideration date: 2014-08-26
id: '6039'
number comments: 50
number views: 7428
proposal type: Competent authority response
response: "Response from the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment\nThe torture\
  \ of animals is a criminal offence and the penalisation of such acts is regulated\
  \ by the Penal Code, which provides in Article 341 that anyone who treats an animal\
  \ cruelly or causes it unnecessary suffering shall be liable to a fine or to imprisonment\
  \ for a term not exceeding one year. Whoever, by such an act, tortures several animals,\
  \ or permanently mutilates an animal which has been tortured severely, or causes\
  \ its death in a cruel manner, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding\
  \ two years. The Ministry of Justice is responsible for amending the Criminal Code\
  \ and the Food Safety, Veterinary and Plant Protection Authority supports the increase\
  \ in penalties for this type of offence.\n \nResponse from the Ministry of Justice\n\
  As already explained by the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning in its\
  \ reply (letter No 0913-96/2014/3 of 15.9.2014), organising animal fights, using\
  \ animals for fights, inciting and training animals to fight with another animal\
  \ is considered a prohibited act under Article 15 of the Animal Protection Act (hereinafter:\
  \ the \"APA\"). If such an act is committed intentionally and causes serious injury\
  \ or prolonged or repeated suffering to an animal or affects the health of an animal,\
  \ it is considered animal torture - Article 4 of the Animal Welfare Act.\nThe penalty\
  \ for the offence of animal torture has been increased twice since 2008. First,\
  \ the Criminal Code (CC-1) increased the prison sentence for the basic form of the\
  \ offence from up to three months to up to six months imprisonment, and the CC-1\
  \ added a qualified (more serious) form of the offence (Article 341(2) of the CC-1),\
  \ where a sentence of up to one year imprisonment was prescribed. However, the Penal\
  \ Code Amendment Act (KZ-1B) increased the penalties for the offence of animal torture.\
  \ For the basic form of the offence, the penalty was increased from up to six months'\
  \ imprisonment to up to one year's imprisonment, and for the qualified form of the\
  \ offence from up to one year's imprisonment to up to two years' imprisonment. It\
  \ should be recalled that only for the basic form of the offence may a fine be imposed\
  \ in lieu of imprisonment.\nThe reason given in the legislative material for the\
  \ increase of the penalty for the offence of animal torture in KZ-1B was that these\
  \ cases involve active conduct and not mere omission, and therefore, in the view\
  \ of the petitioner, the penalties in KZ-1 were inadequate and also too low in comparative\
  \ law in relation to the (stricter) legislation of other countries. The proposed\
  \ increase was also due to the increased social sensitivity and awareness of animal\
  \ rights, which is now also reflected in the (adequate) level of criminal law protection\
  \ (according to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, 11 and 16 adults\
  \ were convicted of the offence of animal torture in 2011 and 2012, respectively).\n\
  In view of the above, the Ministry of Justice considers that the criminal law protection\
  \ of animals against torture is adequate and therefore the proposals are not suitable\
  \ for further consideration.\n "
response date: 2014-09-30
response due date: null
sent date: 2014-07-28
title: Tougher penalties against animal torture
upvotes: 168
url: https://predlagam.vladi.si/predlog/6039
