Austrian landowners bring case before the European Court of Human Rights

In Austria, owners of land outside enclosed settlements are automatically members of the local hunting cooperative.

Compulsory hunting violates human rights

Compulsory hunting violates human rights where landowners object to hobby hunting on ethical grounds. This was decided by the European Court of Human Rights in 2012 in a ruling against the Federal Republic of Germany.

However, the Austrian Constitutional Court ruled in October 2017 that landowners must continue to tolerate hobby hunting on their land even against their ethical convictions. In response, several landowners lodged complaints before the highest European court.

Vegan landowner no longer willing to tolerate hobby hunting on his property

The Scherhaufer family from St. Aegidi in Upper Austria submitted an application in 2015 for an exemption from hunting on their 1.6-hectare woodland and meadow. «I am vegan for ethical reasons, because no animal should have to die for my food. On my property, no I am vegan for ethical reasons, because no animal should have to die for my food. On my property, no animal should be shot by a hobby hunter», explains the animal lover.

Animal lovers demand hunting ban on their woodland property

Josef Greiner and his partner Eleonore Fischer from Engelhartszell, both animal lovers, have for many years been seeking to ban hobby hunting on their three-hectare woodland property. «We humans should stop playing masters over nature, feel ourselves as part of it, and treat animals and plants as fellow living beingsWe humans should stop playing masters over nature, feel ourselves as part of it, and treat animals and plants as fellow living beings», says the forest owner.

Hope for an imminent ruling from the ECHR

Austrian landowners now hope to have their property rights and the human right to freedom of conscience upheld before the European Court of Human Rights.

Detailed information: zwangsbejagung-ade.de/oesterreich