Doctors in Germany may not be able to legally perform circumcisions for religious purposes, after a court ruled that the practice amounts to “bodily harm.”
In a decision Tuesday, the District Court of Cologne ruled doctors can be charged with assault for performing a circumcision, even if the child’s parents have given their consent.
The court ruled that the child's right to physical integrity trumps freedom of religion and parents' rights.
The case began with a 4-year-old who underwent a circumcision in November, 2010, at the request of his Islamic parents. A few days later, he began to bleed heavily and was taken to hospital.
Though Germany has no laws against male circumcision, the doctor was charged with causing grievous bodily harm.
He was acquitted of the charges by a lower court, which ruled he had acted within the law, since the parents had given their consent.
On appeal, the case moved to the district court, which acquitted the doctor Tuesday because it said there was too much confusion about the law on the matter. But it upheld the original charge of grievous bodily harm, because the circumcision "irreparably" harmed the boy.
''The body of the child is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision,'' the court said.
It added the religious freedom of the boy ''would not be unduly impaired'' by denying him circumcision in childhood, because the child could decide on his own later whether to have the procedure.
Though the ruling isn't binding for other courts, it sets a precedent that would be taken into account by the courts when ruling on similar cases.
The ruling has been met by outrage by leaders of the Jewish and Muslim communities, which have practised male circumcision for centuries.
The president of Germany's Central Council of Jews, Dieter Graumann, called the ruling "insensitive" and a "dramatic intervention in the right of religious communities to self-determination".
Graumann said the circumcision of newborn Jews is a religious right and has been practised for thousands of years. "Every country in the world respects this religious right,” he said.
He urged the country's parliament to clarify the legal situation "to protect religious freedom against attacks."
The Anti-Defamation League in New York also urged the German parliament to pass legislation protecting circumcision as a religious practice.
“The decision by a district court in Cologne, Germany, to deem non-medical circumcision a crime places an intolerable burden on the free exercise of religion by Jews and also by Muslims who practice male circumcision as part of their religious faith,” Abraham Foxman, ADL’s national director, said in a statement.
He added that while the ruling did not appear to have specific anti-Semitic intent, “its effect is to say ‘Jews are not welcome’.”
According to 2006 statistics from the World Health Organization, about 30 per cent of men worldwide are circumcised. In the U.S, about 80 per cent of boys are circumcised, but Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom have seen a decline in male circumcision, the WHO says.
