Belgium’s ban on kosher slaughter is set to be tested in the European Union’s highest court after a judge delayed a decision on the legality of restrictions in Flanders.
Shechita was banned in the Dutch-speaking northern region of the country on January 1 this year, while similar restrictions are to due be introduced in the French-speaking Wallonia in September.
Both regions’ parliaments said the prohibitions would apply to animals that have not been pre-stunned. The decision, which also affects halal slaughter, has been criticised by Jewish and Muslim groups.
Belgium’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that a request to annul the ban must first be referred to the European Court of Justice to check whether religious slaughter can be an exception to the rule.
The ban will remain in place while the European court deliberates, a process that could take up to 11 months.
“I regret that the Constitutional Court has not already annulled these decrees on the basis of our fundamental principles,” said Yohan Benizri, president of the Belgian Jewish umbrella group CCOJB, “but I note that our arguments have all the same carried through.
“No one can say that this law was above suspicion. On the contrary, it raises a serious question of compatibility with European law.
“The battle will continue in Luxembourg.”
Brooke Goldstein from The Lawfare Project, which campaigns against antisemitic discrimination and supported the lawsuit, added: “The ban on religious slaughter is a shameful and vindictive act towards minority communities.
“If allowed to stand it has appalling implications for Jewish communities in Belgium and beyond.
“We will continue to fight this bigotry and discrimination in the European courts. We will never let attacks on the rights of Jews and other minorities to practice their religion go unchallenged.”
Ritual slaughter of animals without prior stunning is outlawed in several European countries, including Denmark, Norway, Sweden and partially in Switzerland.
The Flemish restrictions do not prevent people living in Belgium from importing halachically slaughtered meat from European Union countries in which it is not outlawed, such as Britain, France or Ireland.
