Religious Groups Challenge Belgium’s Ban on Ritual Slaughter Methods

The Jewish and Muslim faiths require that the slaughtered animal be conscious during the bleeding. If it is previously stunned, the meat is unfit for consumption. But the decree passed in 2017 by Flanders, one of the three regions of Belgium, which had imposed pre-stunning on its territory of 6.6 million inhabitants, in the name of animal welfare, is one of the main reasons irritating Muslims and Jews.

In this sense, the Central Israelite Consistory of Belgium (CCIB), and other Jewish and Muslim organizations, have challenged the legality of the decree aimed at banning the slaughter of animals according to the traditional Jewish and Muslim rites before the Belgian courts. Seized this Thursday for an opinion by the Belgian Constitutional Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has stated that "the measures contained in the decree to ensure a fair balance between the importance attached to animal welfare and the freedom of Jewish and Muslim believers to manifest their religion", thus giving reason to the Flemish legislator who, according to him, was based on "a scientific consensus".

For Moshe Kantor, President of the European Jewish Congress, "it’s a hard blow, it suggests that our practices are not welcome." Same reaction from the European Jewish association, (EJA). Contrary to them, the Brigitte Bardot Foundation welcomed this decision. Frustrated, the Executive of Muslims in Belgium indicated that the conflict is far from over and that the Belgian Constitutional Court would have "the last word." But for now, ritual slaughter is prohibited in Flanders and southern Wallonia, except in the Brussels region.