The European Court of Human Rights has ruled in favor of prohibiting kosher and halal animal slaughter rituals if the animal is not stunned prior to slaughter. This ruling comes after a prolonged legal battle between members of the Muslim and Jewish communities and animal rights activists.
The case arose when Belgium adopted a regulation in 2017 and 2018 prohibiting the slaughter of cattle that had not been previously stunned, without exceptions. This sparked criticism from the Muslim and Jewish communities, who argued that the ban on religious rituals violated their freedom of religion. On the other side, animal association GAIA defended the regulation in the name of animal welfare.
The Belgian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice had previously ruled in favor of GAIA, upholding the ban on religious rituals in cattle slaughter. Now, the European Court of Human Rights has also endorsed this prohibition, stating that both regions are within their rights to impose stunning prior to slaughter.
The Court recognized that while the measure did interfere with the plaintiffs’ freedom of religion, it was justified by the protection of animal welfare. The ruling emphasized that the prevention of animal suffering justifies interference with a guaranteed human right “by virtue of the protection of morality.”
The decision marks the first time the European Court of Human Rights has addressed whether the protection of animal welfare could violate religious freedom. Ultimately, the Court concluded that the interference with freedom of religion was justified and proportionate to the objective of protecting animal welfare.