Kosher slaughter ban in Belgium

Several regions in Belgium passed legislation banning shechita — the ritual slaughter of animals without pre-stunning required for kosher and halal meat — effectively preventing observant Jews and Muslims from practicing a core tenet of their faiths. The ban directly violated the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Belgian Constitution, all of which guarantee freedom of religion.

In partnership with the Coordinating Committee of Jewish Organizations in Belgium (CCOJB), The Lawfare Project supported nearly four years of litigation challenging the ban in the Walloon and Flanders regions.

Despite these efforts, Belgium’s Constitutional Court upheld the discriminatory ban, following a 2020 ruling from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) that deemed the prohibition compatible with EU law. These decisions disregarded the fundamental rights of minority communities and undermined religious freedom in Belgium.

While both courts cited animal welfare concerns, they simultaneously permitted the hunting and killing of animals at "cultural or sporting events" — practices that involve killing without pre-stunning. The courts defended hunting as part of European tradition, while denying the same consideration to the millennia-old religious practices of Jews and Muslims in the region.

The Lawfare Project and its partners condemned the decision as a moral failure of Belgium’s institutions. CCOJB President Yohan Benizri called the ruling “a shame for our country,” vowing to continue the fight both legally and politically. The Lawfare Project remains committed to pursuing justice and is exploring escalation of the case to the European Court of Human Rights, which has recognized kosher slaughter as "an essential aspect of practice of the Jewish religion."