CASE SUBMITTED TO EU COURT!!!
Press release 26/07/2022:
Appeal Update
It’s not over, we’re going to Europe
We have recently received notice that our appeal has not been successful at this stage however, as the UK Government fails to take the opportunity to address the risks of factory farming, we are committed to fighting on for animals, people and the planet.
Upon receiving this outcome our legal team also noted that based on timescales of submissions, it is evident that a substantial amount of submitted material could not have been read. Given that this indicates to us a lack of care, sense of duty or awareness of the seriousness of the risks to human health, we will now be taking our appeal to its final stage at the European Court of Human Rights.
One of the reasons given for the refusal stated that ‘Whether intensive farming practices should be banned is a political question ill-suited to judicial review’ but this in itself reflects an inaccurate understanding of the case itself. Whilst our wider campaign outside of the legal challenge calls for the scrapping of factory farming, this is indeed not possible through a judicial review but this is not what the case calls for. This is a human rights case which challenges the failure of the UK government fulfil their duty to ensure that the risks of zoonotic disease outbreak and increasing antibiotic resistance are safeguarded against to the greatest extent possible. It also raises the issue of the impact of factory farming on global emissions which in turn impacts human health and life itself.
The asks we made in the case were simple, for a full assessment of the risks posed by factory farming to be conducted and published, detailing appropriate safeguards which would be put in place to protect the public. Given that the UK has just experienced a record-breaking season of avian flu, we had hoped that the government would take this opportunity to review the risks however it is now clear that we need to escalate our concerns.
And so, we do not stop here. Our legal team led by renowned barrister Michael Mansfield QC, are taking our appeal to the European Court of Human Rights and we need your help to get there. We are still raising the legal fees which make this case possible, and you can support us in reaching this target by donating via CrowdJustice or Paypal.
Thank you for your continued support, we could not have got this far without you, and we look forward to sharing more updates with you soon.
Legal Team
We have chosen the very best legal team to get the optimum result in this case in order to lawfully safeguard the people, animals and our planet!
Michael Mansfield | Q.C.
Notable cases: As well as representing those wrongly convicted of the IRA’sGuildford and Birmingham pub bombings, Mansfield has represented: the Angry Brigade; Dolours and Marian Price; Brian Keenan; the Orgreave miners; Mahmood Hussein Mattan, Ruth Ellis and James Hanratty (in posthumous appeals); those involved in the Israeli Embassy bombing; Stephen Lawrence‘s family; Michael Barrymore at the Stuart Lubbock inquest; Barry George at the inquest into the death of Jill Dando; the gangster Kenneth Noye;[7] the Bloody Sunday families; Arthur Scargill; Angela Cannings;[8]Fatmir Limaj, a Kosovo-Albanian leader prosecuted in the Hague; Mohamed al-Fayed in the inquest into the deaths of his son Dodi al-Fayed and Diana, Princess of Wales; and the families of Jean Charles de Menezes and Mark Duggan. (taken from Wikipedia)
Most recently, Michael has been working on the Grenfell Towers case and Dominic Cummings cases.
Michael is also a patron of the animal welfare organisation Viva!
Lorna Hackett | Barrister
Lorna Hackett is a barrister called in 2003, who has conducted numerous high profile cases in recent years.
She has extensive litigation experience, particularly in the areas of judicial review and human rights. Lorna has considerable expertise advising in cases of a sensitive nature and in which there is potential for media interest.
Philip Rule | Barrister
Philip undertakes a variety of areas of work, but a particular public law and criminal law specialist. Specialist in judicial review, human rights and civil liberties, criminal appeals and criminal trials concerning fatalities.
Legal Aid Barrister of the Year 2017 (awarded by the Legal Aid Practitioners Group).
Called 2001 Lincolns Inn; Direct Access qualified 2011; Pupil supervisor 2010; admitted to International Criminal Court’s list of assistants to counsel at the Hague; CPS specialist fraud panel; CPS specialist serious crime group panel; CPS prosecution advocates list for London, South East and Western Circuits; appointed to Attorney-General’s Unified List of Prosecution Advocates.
Called to the Bar of the Cayman Islands 2017.
We received over 80 witness statements– from scientists, academics, researchers, lecturers, professors, doctors, health professionals, vets, industry specialists, legal experts, consultants, policy and government advisors, economists, auditors, undercover investigators, campaigners, nutritionists, authors of books, directors of films, people who have lived near or worked on factory farms and a couple from concerned members of the public. Statements came in from the UK, Australia, the USA, Sweden, Germany, Brussels, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Canada.