ゾウの「ハッピー」は人ではない、愛護団体の訴え退ける　ＮＹ州最高裁

【ニューヨークＡＦＰ＝時事】ゾウの「ハッピー」は高い知性を持っているものの、「人」の定義は満たしておらず、動物園で違法に拘束されているわけではない──。注目を集めていた動物の権利をめぐる訴訟で、米ニューヨーク州の最高裁は１４日、こうした判断を下した。（写真はフランス中西部の保護区のゾウ。資料写真）
　ハッピーは雌のアジアゾウで１９７１年に自然界で生まれ、過去４５年間はニューヨーク市内にあるブロンクス動物園で暮らしてきた。
　動物愛護団体「人間以外の動物の権利プロジェクト」が提訴したもので、裁判所に対してハッピーに人身保護令状を出すよう求めたが、最高裁判事は５対２で訴えを退けた。このため、ハッピーは約４０００平方メートルの敷地内にとどまることになった。
　原告側は、ハッピーは「並外れて複雑な認知機能を持ち、自律性のある人間以外の動物」であり「慣習法で保護される身体の自由がある法律上の人格」と認められるべきだと主張していた。
　ジャネット・ディフィオレ首席判事がまとめた、人身保護法の適用を認めない判決では「ゾウが適切な世話と思いやりを受けるべき知能の高い動物であることは誰も否定しない」とした上で、「人身保護令状は人間が違法な拘束下に置かれることがないよう、自由の権利を守るためのものであり、違法な拘束を受けている人間ではない動物のハッピーには適用されない」と指摘した。
　同団体はこれまでにも米各地で、他のゾウやチンパンジーのために同様の訴えを起こし、敗訴していた。
　判決を受け、原告側は人格を認める判断をした判事２人を称賛し、彼らの意見とこの訴訟が州最高裁で審理された事実自体が未来への希望になったと表明した。
　判事の一人は「多数派が『動物には権利がない』と答えるとき、私は動物をふびんに思うとともに、それ以上に、その答えが人間の理解力、共感力、思いやりの心を否定し、過小評価しているということを悲しく思う」との考えを示した。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/06/16-15:20）

As intelligent as she is, Happy the elephant doesn't meet the definition of a person and is therefore not being illegally confined in the Bronx Zoo, New York's top court ruled Tuesday in a closely watched case for animal rights.
The state's Court of Appeals 5-2 verdict against the habeas corpus proceeding filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NRP) means Happy will remain in her one-acre lot, where she has lived for 45 years, rather than moving to a much larger sanctuary.
NRP had contended Asian elephant, who was born in the wild in 1971, is an extraordinarily cognitively complex and autonomous nonhuman who should be recognized as a legal person with the right to bodily liberty protected by the common law.
It was the latest legal defeat for the organization, which has previously made similar petitions on behalf of other elephants as well as chimpanzees throughout the United States.
The majority decision, written by Chief Justice Janet DiFiore, acknowledged no one disputes that elephants are intelligent beings deserving of proper care and compassion.
But she affirmed the decisions of lower courts that previously heard the case, writing: Because the writ of habeas corpus is intended to protect the liberty right of human beings to be free of unlawful confinement, it has no applicability to Happy, a nonhuman animal who is not a 'person' subjected to illegal detention.
Granting legal personhood to a nonhuman animal in such a manner would have significant implications for the interactions of humans and animals in all facets of life, including risking the disruption of property rights, the agricultural industry (among others), and medical research efforts, DiFiore added.
If such relief were granted to elephants, What of dolphins -- or dogs? What about cows or pigs or chickens --species routinely confined in conditions far more restrictive than the elephant enclosure at the Bronx Zoo?
Reacting to the news, NRP praised the two dissenting judges, and said their views, as well as the fact that the case was heard in New York's highest court, represented hope for the cause in the future.
Justice Rowan Wilson wrote: When the majority answers, 'No, animals cannot have rights,' I worry for that animal, but I worry even more greatly about how that answer denies and denigrates the human capacity for understanding, empathy and compassion.
Wilson recalled the case of Ota Benga, a member of the Mbuti pygmy people who was kidnapped from Africa and placed on exhibit at the Bronx Zoo in 1906, attracting a quarter of a million visitors.
Wilson said that while Benga was a human being and Happy was not, The crucial point from both Mr Benga's and Happy's confinement... is that both suffered greatly from confinement that, though not in violation of any statutory law, produced little or no social benefit.
DiFiore retorted that was an odious comparison with concerning implications, adding, We are unpersuaded.
She concluded with the observation that enormous interest generated by the case was a testament to the complicated and ever-evolving relationship between human beings and other animals, but stressed that ongoing debate should be settled by legislation, not the courts.