The alliance that the Muslims and Jews of Belgium had woven so that the EU would allow the slaughter of animals without prior stunning – following the precepts of the halal and kosher rites, respectively – lost its last battle yesterday. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) sees the restriction of religious freedom that the ban entails as justified if the measure is “proportionate” and seeks to protect animal welfare. For this reason, it rules out that it entails a violation of the right to freedom of religion, nor discrimination against Muslims and Jews, as they intended.
The controversy comes from afar and while animal associations have long been fighting to stop sacrifices with the halal or kosher ritual, the Muslim and Jewish communities claim their freedom of worship. The laws of the different EU countries establish the mandatory nature of stunning prior to slaughter, so to save the halal and kosher exceptions, governments granted special permits – with the opposition of animal activists – to these communities.
With increasing pressure from animal rights activists and recognition within the EU of promoting animal welfare as an objective of general interest, many of these permits were revoked. In 2020, the Court of Justice of the EU endorsed that these exceptions will be withdrawn, something that Belgium had already done in January 2019, an event that Belgian Jews considered the largest assault on the Jewish community since the Nazi occupation.
Once the internal route had been exhausted, the Muslim and Jewish communities of Belgium ultimately raised the case to the ECtHR. In front of Strasbourg, they allege that the rule is preventing Jews and Muslims from obtaining meat in accordance with the precepts of their religion. According to them, the ban is an “unjustified interference” in their right to freedom of religion and, in addition, represents discrimination on religious grounds.
The European regulation establishes that it must be avoided that “the sacrifice may cause pain, anguish, fear or other forms of suffering to the animals, even in the best technical conditions available.” Despite admitting that this is an interference in freedom of religion, the CJEU considered that slaughter for halal or kosher rituals can be prohibited as long as the measure is proportional and responds to an objective of general interest recognized in the EU, such as is the promotion of animal welfare. Thus, the Luxembourg-based court believes that non-lethal electrical stunning is a “proportionate” measure that “respects the essential content” of the right to freedom of religion contained in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The Muslim sacrifice ritual involves a dry cut on the animal’s neck facing Mecca while invoking Allah and expecting them to bleed out completely as quickly as possible. The Jew, with some variations, also involves a deep, even cut across the throat with a sharp knife. In both methods, one of the requirements (shared by both religions) is that the animal be in perfect health before slaughter.
In Spain, both methods of slaughter are allowed, but there are other countries – Sweden, Denmark, Slovenia, Iceland and Norway – where it is prohibited, while Finland goes further and requires that the animal be sedated.
