BRITAIN'S HIGHEST COURT REJECTS FOX HUNTING APPEAL

AFP

Britain's highest court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by countryside groups against the government's ban on hunting with dogs, ruling that the law does not contravene human rights.

It was the second time the Law Lords had been asked to rule on the lawfulness of the Hunting Act 2004, which banned fox and deer hunting and hare coursing with dogs in England and Wales following similar laws in Scotland.

Campaigners have tried to have the act declared invalid and claimed it would devastate rural communities and local industries supporting hunts, such as kennels for hounds and farriers who ensure hunt horses are well-shod.

But in a unanimous decision, one of the three judges, Thomas Bingham, said the act "must be taken to reflect the conscience of a majority of the nation".

"The democratic process is liable to be subverted if, on a question of moral and political judgment, opponents of the Act achieve through the courts what they could not achieve in Parliament," he said.

A separate appeal against the Scottish legislation, which has a separate but broadly similar legal system to England and Wales, was also thrown out.

Scotland's most senior judge, James Hope, said there was "adequate factual information" to indicate that fox hunting inflicted pain on the animal and was therefore cruel.

Under both laws, dogs cannot be used to pursue and kill quarry, although they can still follow a scent and flush out foxes and other quarry, which can then be killed either by a bird of prey or shot if only two dogs are involved.

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