German Court Sets New Circumcision Rules

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: In the latest twist in a controversy that has divided Germans, a regional court has ruled that doctors need to discuss circumcision procedures with the child before they can be carried out.

The Higher Regional Court of Hamm, a city in western Germany, has concretized the law regulating culturally and religiously motivated circumcision, ruling that parents and doctors need to discuss any impending procedure with children. » | tmr -- with wires | Friday, September 27, 2013

Germany Introduces New Circumcision Law
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Germany's government has sought to quell Jewish and Muslim fury over a court ruling likening circumcision to grievous bodily harm with the introduction of a new law regulating the practice.

The bill set before the federal parliament allows circumcision on religious grounds but only when it does not threaten the health of the child and should be as "pain free as possible". Older children, the bill states, have the right to abstain from circumcision. » | Matthew Day | Friday, October 05, 2012

Berlin Presents Draft Law Allowing Circumcision
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Following months of acrimonious debate over whether circumcision was legal in Germany, the Justice Ministry in Berlin has now presented a draft law that would ensure the procedure remains unpunishable. The German Jewish community has welcomed the move.

Germany's Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has formulated two brief paragraphs in an attempt to solve a problem that had earned Germany global critique: She introduced a draft law on Tuesday that would ensure that circumcision remains unpunishable. The law would require parental consent and would require that the procedure "be performed according to the standards of medical practice," according to the Justice Ministry draft, which SPIEGEL ONLINE has seen. Circumcision would remain prohibited in cases where the procedure might endanger the child's well-being. » | Ralf Neukirch | Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Germany[:] Jews and Muslims Protest at Circumcision Ruling
BBC: Jewish and Muslim organisations are staging a joint protest in the German capital Berlin over a regional court's ruling that the circumcision of young boys constituted bodily harm.

The protest was prompted by the news that a rabbi in Bavaria was being investigated over the practice.

The ruling on circumcision was handed down by a court in Cologne in June.

However, the German government has since announced it will legislate to explicitly legalise the practice.

The court in Cologne had declared that the ritual circumcision of a Muslim boy, in accordance with his parents' faith, caused the child "bodily harm".

The German Medical Association then told doctors across the country to stop performing the procedure for both Jews and Muslims. » | Sunday, September 09, 2012

WELT ONLINE: Hunderte Demonstranten fordern Rechtssicherheit bei der Beschneidung: Juden, Muslime und Christen demonstrieren gemeinsam für Religionsfreiheit und Toleranz » | dapd | Sonntag, 09. September 2012

Jewish Leader Lays into Germany: 'Do You Still Want Us Jews?'

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Charlotte Knobloch, the former head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, wrote a stinging editorial on Wednesday attacking the circumcision debate, calling talk of a Jewish revival a sham and wondering whether she was right to spend her adult life defending Germany.

Germany has been debating the rights and wrongs of circumcising infant boys ever since a German court ruled in June that the ritual, a core part of the Jewish religion, was unlawful.

Now Charlotte Knobloch, 79, the former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, has had enough. In a furious editorial published on Wednesday in one of the country's top newspapers, Süddeutsche Zeitung, she said the controversy was calling the existence of Germany's small Jewish community into question and asked: "Do you still want us Jews?"

"For 60 years I have defended Germany as a survivor of the Shoah. Now I ask myself if that was right," she wrote. Knobloch is president of the Munich Jewish community and vice president of the World Jewish Congress.

The verdict by a court in Cologne, though extremely limited in its scope, was denounced by Jewish, Muslim, Catholic and Protestant leaders as a serious intrusion on religious freedom. Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany risked becoming a "laughing stock" if Jews were not allowed to practice their rituals.

In July, the lower house of parliament passed a resolution to protect religious circumcision and the government has promised a new law to make clear that doctors or families will not be prosecuted for carrying out the procedure. » | cro | Wednesday, September 05, 2012

Circumcision Row Hits Austria as Doctors Advise Against It Even on Religious Grounds
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A row over circumcision has spread to Austria from Germany after a state governor advised doctors against performing the procedure, even when it is on religious grounds.

Markus Wallner, centre-right state premier of Vorarlberg, said the instructions followed a controversial June ruling by a court in the German city of Cologne that equated circumcision of young boys with grievous bodily harm.

That verdict provoked uproar from religious and political leaders in Israel as well as Muslim countries, with Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly saying it risked making Germany a "laughing stock".

Wallner's move meanwhile was slammed as an "attack on religious freedom" by Fuat Sanac, head of the Islamic Community of Austria (IGGiOe), according to comments due to be published in Wednesday's Der Standard daily. Read on and comment » | Tuesday, July 24, 2012

It has also hit Switzerland

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Hospitals in Austria and Switzerland suspend circumcision: Hospitals in Austria and Switzerland have banned circumcisions on infant boys citing a German court ruling that it could amount to bodily harm. » | Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Merkel to Allow Circumcision in Germany Despite Ban

RT.COM: The German Chancellor’s spokesman says the Jewish and Muslim communities will be free to carry out the rite of circumcision despite an earlier court ban, which sparked outrage and concern for religious freedom in the country.

"For everyone in the government it is absolutely clear that we want to have Jewish and Muslim religious life in Germany," Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert told journalists. "Circumcision carried out in a responsible manner must be possible in this country without punishment."

"It is well known that in the Jewish religion early circumcision carries great meaning, so it is a matter of urgency that this right be restored," Seibert said, adding that Merkel's own office would be involved in efforts to resolve the problem.

"We know a quick decision is needed and that this cannot be put off. Freedom of religious practice is a very important legal right for us," he added. » | Friday, July 13, 2012

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Deutscher Botschafter äußert sich zu Beschneidungs-Urteil

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Germany: Jewish Groups Condemn Court's Definition of Circumcision as Grievous Bodily Harm

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A German court has ruled that circumcising young boys on religious grounds amounts to grievous bodily harm, in a landmark decision that the Jewish community said trampled on parents' religious rights.

The regional court in Cologne ruled that the "fundamental right of the child to bodily integrity outweighed the fundamental rights of the parents", a judgement that is expected to set a legal precedent.

"The religious freedom of the parents and their right to educate their child would not be unacceptably compromised, if they were obliged to wait until the child could himself decide to be circumcised," the court added.

The case was brought against a doctor in Cologne who had circumcised a four-year-old Muslim boy on his parents' wishes.

A few days after the operation, his parents took him to hospital as he was bleeding heavily. Prosecutors then charged the doctor with grievous bodily harm.

The doctor was acquitted by a lower court that judged he had acted within the law as the parents had given their consent.

On appeal, the regional court also acquitted the doctor but for different reasons. The regional court ruled that the doctor was innocent as there was too much confusion on the legal situation around circumcision.

However, it came down firmly against parents' right to have the ritual performed on young children.

"The body of the child is irreparably and permanently changed by a circumcision," the court said. "This change contravenes the interests of the child to decide later on his religious beliefs." » | Wednesday, June 27, 2012

SÜDDEUTSCHE.DE: Urteil zu Beschneidung: Muslime und Juden reagieren empört auf “unerhörten Akt” – Eine "unsensible" und "diskriminierende" Entscheidung: Jüdische und muslimische Religionsvertreter kritisieren das Urteil aus Köln scharf - die Richter des Landgerichts hatten Beschneidungen bei Jungen als grundsätzlich strafbar bewertet. Auch die Leser von Süddeutsche.de diskutieren kontrovers. » | Mittwoch, 27. Juni 2012