Document type Press release - Chamber judgments
Author: the Registrar of the European Court of Human Rights
Preview: The case Executief van de Moslims van België and Others v. Belgium (application no. 16760/22and 10 others) concerned a ban on the ritual slaughter of animals without prior stunning in the Flemish and Walloon Regions of Belgium. In today's Chamber judgment1 in this case, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been : No violation of Article 9 (freedom of religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and no violation of Article 14 (prohibition of discrimination) taken together with article 9. The Court found in particular that by adopting the decrees in question, which had had the effect of banning the slaughter of animals without prior stunning in the Flemish and Walloon Regions, while allowing reversible stunning for ritual slaughter, the national authorities had not exceeded their discretion (“margin of appreciation”) in the case. They had taken a measure which was justified as a matter of principle and could be regarded as proportionate to the aim pursued, namely the protection of animal welfare as an element of “public morals”. The Court pointed out that this was the first time that it had addressed the question whether the protection of animal welfare could be linked to one of the aims under Article 9 of the Convention. A legal summary of this case will be available in the Court's database HUDOC (link).
Publication resulting in an article in Le Monde on 13/02/2024 : Ban on ritual slaughter: an unprecedented decision by the European Court of Human Rights, in the name of animal welfare
