(Brussels Times) The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has upheld a ban by the Flemish government on animal slaughter without prior stunning.
The court was responding to a request from Belgium’s Constitutional Court for a ruling on a point of EU law.
In July 2017, the Flemish government introduced a decree banning the slaughter of animals for meat without stunning them first. Stunning is usually done using electrodes to give a shock or a captive-bolt gun.
The decree was opposed by Jewish and Muslim groups, whose religion does not allow the stunning of animals prior to slaughter. They took their case to the Constitutional Court, alleging the Flemish decree was in violation of their right to freedom of religion.
