Ritual slaughter and the freedom of religion: Some reflections on a stunning matter

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 35, Issue 3, 2013, Pages 651-672

  Zoethout, Carla M ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

CULTURAL RELATIONS; CULTURAL TRADITION; HUMAN RIGHTS; RELIGION;

EUROPE;

ANIMALIA;

EID: 84881502404     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/hrq.2013.0040     Document Type: Article

References (97)

1. See Dutch MPs Effectively Ban Ritual Slaughter of Animals, BBC News Europe (28 June 2011), available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13947163. The text went as follows: "The Dutch lower house of parliament has passed a law effectively banning the ritual slaughter of animals, in a move condemned by Muslim and Jewish groups. The legislation states that all animals must be stunned before being killed. But the Islamic dhabiha and Jewish shechitam ethods of ritual slaughter require them to be fully conscious."
2. Partij voor de Dieren (Party for the Animals), available at https://www.partijvoordedieren. nl/. The Party for the Animals is a political party that has two seats in the lower house of the Dutch Parliament, which has 150 seats in total.
3. See Parliamentary Parties, Tweede Kamer der Staten Generaal (The Dutch House of Representatives), available at http://www.houseofrepresentatives.nl/members_of_parliament/parliamentary_parties.
4. See Dutch MPs Effectively Ban Ritual Slaughter of Animals, BBC News Europe (28 June 2011), available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13947163. The text went as follows: "The Dutch lower house of parliament has passed a law effectively banning the ritual slaughter of animals, in a move condemned by Muslim and Jewish groups. The legislation states that all animals must be stunned before being killed. But the Islamic dhabiha and Jewish shechitam ethods of ritual slaughter require them to be fully conscious."
5. Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 31 571, Voorstel van wet van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de Gezondheids-en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van een verplichte voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, available at, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/31571/kst-31571-2?resultIndex=101 &sorttype=1&sortorder=4
6. Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 31 571, Voorstel van wet van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de Gezondheids-en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van een verplichte voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, available at, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/31571/kst-31571-2?resultIndex=101 &sorttype=1&sortorder=4
7. For more in general on kosher and halal food laws, see J.M. Regenstein, M.M. Chaudry, & C.E. Regenstein, The Kosher and Halal Food Laws, 2 Comprehensive Rev. Food Science & Food Safety 111 (2003), available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/ doi/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2003.tb00018.x/pdf.
8. Tetty Havinga, On the Borderline Between State Law and Religious Law: Regulatory Arrangements Connected to Kosher and Halal Foods in the Netherlands and the United States, in Private Food Law, Governing Food Chains through Contract Law, Self-Regulation, Private Standards, Audits and Certification Schemes 265 (Bernd van der Meulen ed., 2011) available at http://www.wageningenacademic. com/_clientFiles/download/EIFL-06-e.pdf.
9. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
10. Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 31 571, Voorstel van wet van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de Gezondheids-en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van een verplichte voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, available at, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/31571/kst-31571-2?resultIndex=101 &sorttype=1&sortorder=4
11. Deuteronomy 12:21 (The New Oxford Annotated Bible 3d ed. 2007).
12. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
13. Deuteronomy 12:20-12:24.
14. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
15. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
16. Genesis 9:4 ("Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ").
17. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
18. Deuteronomy 12:21.
19. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
20. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
21. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
22. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
23. Roni Ozari, Rituell es Schlachten Bei Juden (Schechita), Muslime (Dhabh) und Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Ritual Slaughter Among Jews (Schechita), Muslims (Dhabh) and Sikhs (Jhatkā) (Dr. J. Boessneck ed., Hieronymus Buchreproduktions GmbH 1984).
24. Sura 5:3. In Tarif Khalidi, The Qur'an: A New Translation 83 (Viking Penguin 2008), the passage is translated as follows: Forbidden to you are: carrion, blood, the flesh of swine, and that which is consecrated to other than God; also the flesh of animals strangled, killed violently, killed by a fall, gored to death, mangled by wild beasts-except what you can ritually sacrifice-or sacrificed to idols. Forbidden to you is resort to divination by arrows. This is an inquiry.... If anyone is forced by famine and is not deliberately sinning, then God is All-Forgiving, Compassionate to each.
25. Temple Grandin & Joe M. Regenstein, Religious Slaughter and Animal Welfare: A Discussion for Meat Scientists, in Meat Focus Int'l 115 (Mar. 1994), available at http:// www.grandin.com/ritual/kosher.slaugh.html.
26. See Royal Dutch Society for Veterinary Medicine, Position Paper, Standpoint on Un-Stunned Slaughter of Animals (24 Feb. 2011) (Standpunt KNMvD over het onbedwelmd slachten van dieren), available at http://www.knmvd.nl/cms/streambin. aspx?requestid=04BAAD2C-87A9-4296-AFC6-9EFF6AC3E261.
27. See Royal Dutch Society for Veterinary Medicine, Position Paper, Standpoint on Un-Stunned Slaughter of Animals (24 Feb. 2011) (Standpunt KNMvD over het onbedwelmd slachten van dieren), available at http://www.knmvd.nl/cms/streambin. aspx?requestid=04BAAD2C-87A9-4296-AFC6-9EFF6AC3E261.
28. See Royal Dutch Society for Veterinary Medicine, Position Paper, Standpoint on Un-Stunned Slaughter of Animals (24 Feb. 2011) (Standpunt KNMvD over het onbedwelmd slachten van dieren), available at http://www.knmvd.nl/cms/streambin. aspx?requestid=04BAAD2C-87A9-4296-AFC6-9EFF6AC3E261.
29. In a recent article on this topic, however, Joel Silver writes that if an animal is pre-stunned, then slaughtered, the cause of death becomes uncertain and therefore problematic. Joel Silver, Understanding Freedom of Religion in a Religious Industry: Kosher Slaughter (Shechita) and Animal Welfare, 42 Victoria Univ. Wellington L. Rev. 671, 677 (2011).
30. Mayer Rabinowitz, A Stunning Matter (2001), available at http://www.rabbinicalassembly. org/sites/default/files/public/halakhah/teshuvot/19912000/rabinowitz_stunning.pdf. I owe the subtitle of my article to this article, which addresses the question "Is it permitted to stun/bolt an animal after shechita?". The conclusion of the article is that post-shechita stunning (rather than pre-cut stunning) is permitted.
31. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
32. Temple Grandin & Joe M. Regenstein, Religious Slaughter and Animal Welfare: A Discussion for Meat Scientists, in Meat Focus Int'l 115 (Mar. 1994), available at http:// www.grandin.com/ritual/kosher.slaugh.html.
33. See Royal Dutch Society for Veterinary Medicine, Position Paper, Standpoint on Un-Stunned Slaughter of Animals (24 Feb. 2011) (Standpunt KNMvD over het onbedwelmd slachten van dieren), available at http://www.knmvd.nl/cms/streambin. aspx?requestid=04BAAD2C-87A9-4296-AFC6-9EFF6AC3E261.
34. Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), Slaughter of Animals without Prior Stunning (FVE/02/104) (10 Mar. 2009), available at http://www.fve.org/news/position_papers/ animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf http://www.fve.org/news/position_ papers/animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf.
35. Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), Slaughter of Animals without Prior Stunning (FVE/02/104) (10 Mar. 2009), available at http://www.fve.org/news/position_papers/ animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf http://www.fve.org/news/position_ papers/animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf.
36. Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAW C), Report on the Welfare of Farmed Animals at Slaughter or Killing, Part 1, Red Meat Animals, at Rec. 201 (2003), available at http://www.fawc. org.uk/reports/pb8347.pdf.
37. K. von Holleben et al., DIALREL, Report on Good and Adverse Practices: Animal Welfare Concerns In Relation To Slaughter Practices from the Viewpoint of Veterinary Sciences (2010), available at http://www.dialrel.eu/images/veterinary-concerns.pdf.
38. K. von Holleben et al., DIALREL, Report on Good and Adverse Practices: Animal Welfare Concerns In Relation To Slaughter Practices from the Viewpoint of Veterinary Sciences (2010), available at http://www.dialrel.eu/images/veterinary-concerns.pdf.
39. K. von Holleben et al., DIALREL, Report on Good and Adverse Practices: Animal Welfare Concerns In Relation To Slaughter Practices from the Viewpoint of Veterinary Sciences (2010), available at http://www.dialrel.eu/images/veterinary-concerns.pdf.
40. Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 31 571, Voorstel van wet van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de Gezondheids-en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van een verplichte voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, available at, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/31571/kst-31571-2?resultIndex=101 &sorttype=1&sortorder=4
41. Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 31 571, Voorstel van wet van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de Gezondheids-en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van een verplichte voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, available at, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/31571/kst-31571-2?resultIndex=101 &sorttype=1&sortorder=4
42. Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 31 571, Voorstel van wet van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de Gezondheids-en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van een verplichte voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, available at, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/31571/kst-31571-2?resultIndex=101 &sorttype=1&sortorder=4
43. Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, New Challenges for Islamic Ritual Slaughter: A European Perspective, 33 J. Ethnic & Migration Stud. 965, 977 (2007).
44. See Jeff Welty, Humane Slaughter Laws, 70 L. & Contemp. Prob. 175 (2007).
45. A.R. Miller, Humane-Slaughter Legislation, 14 Food, Drug, Cosmetic L. J. 685 (1959)
46. Jennifer L. Mariucci, The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: Deficiencies and Proposed Amendments, IV J. Animal L. 149 (2008).
47. Jennifer L. Mariucci, The Humane Methods of Slaughter Act: Deficiencies and Proposed Amendments, IV J. Animal L. 149 (2008).
48. Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, New Challenges for Islamic Ritual Slaughter: A European Perspective, 33 J. Ethnic & Migration Stud. 965, 977 (2007).
49. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
50. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
51. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
52. Florence Bergeaud-Blackler, New Challenges for Islamic Ritual Slaughter: A European Perspective, 33 J. Ethnic & Migration Stud. 965, 977 (2007).
53. Kamerstuk Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal, 31 571, Voorstel van wet van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de Gezondheids-en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van een verplichte voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, available at, https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/dossier/31571/kst-31571-2?resultIndex=101 &sorttype=1&sortorder=4
54. Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter, signed 10 May 1979, art. 13, Official Journal L 137, 27 (effective 11 June 1982), available at http://ec.europa.eu/food/ animal/welfare/references_en.htm.
55. Convention for the Protection of Animals for Slaughter, signed 10 May 1979, art. 13, Official Journal L 137, 27 (effective 11 June 1982), available at http://ec.europa.eu/food/ animal/welfare/references_en.htm.
56. Council Directive 93/119, art. 5, ¶¶ 1(c), 2, 1993 (EC).
57. Council Regulation 1099/2009, On the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing O. J (L 303) 1. In this respect the following needs attention. In 2008, the European Parliament issued a "Legislative resolution on the proposal for a Council regulation on the protection of animals at the time of killing. " This resolution included an Amendment to the Council regulation, which proposed to eliminate the possibility for the Member States to establish stricter national rules applicable to ritual slaughter. This would entail a major modification compared to the current situation, where member states have the possibility to adopt stricter national rules in many aspects of the regulation. However, the Commission rejected the Amendment (28). See "Commission communication on the action taken on opinions and resolutions adopted by Parliament at the May 2009 part-session. "
58. The Treaty of Lisbon amends the current founding treaties, i.e. the Treaty on European Union (EU Treaty), which will retain its name, and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (EC Treaty), which will be renamed as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (entered into force 1 Dec. 2009). Treaty of Lisbon Amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Communities, Dec. 13, 2007, 2007 O.J. (C 306) 1 [hereinafter Treaty of Lisbon].
59. The term "sentient being" originates from John Stuart Mill, Three Essays on Religion, (Broad View Editions, Louis J. Matz ed., 2007) (1874).
60. The Treaty of Lisbon amends the current founding treaties, i.e. the Treaty on European Union (EU Treaty), which will retain its name, and the Treaty Establishing the European Community (EC Treaty), which will be renamed as the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) (entered into force 1 Dec. 2009). Treaty of Lisbon Amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty Establishing the European Communities, Dec. 13, 2007, 2007 O.J. (C 306) 1 [hereinafter Treaty of Lisbon].
61. "It needs, however, to be noted that the European Union operates under the principles of conferred competences and subsidiarity. That means to say that competences not conferred upon the Union in the Treaties remain with the member states. Under the principle of subsidiarity, in areas that do not fall within its exclusive competence, the Union shall act only if and in so far as the objectives cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States (EU Treaty, arts. 1, 4, 5). As a consequence certain topics of animal protection remain under the responsibility of the member states (e.g. the use of animals in competitions, shows, cultural or sporting events and the management of stray dogs). " European Commission, The EU and Animal Welfare: Policy Objectives, available at http:// ec.europa.eu/food/animal/welfare/policy/index_en.htm.
62. Humane Methods of Slaughter Act 7 U.S.C. § 1901 (1958). Jones v. Butz, 374 F. Supp. 1284 (S.D.N.Y. 1974) (Court held exemption constitutional. Plaintiffs advocated that the trial court declare the ritual slaughter provisions unconstitutional under the establishment and the free exercise clauses of the first amendment to the US Constitution. While the court rejected the argument, it recognized that the plaintiffs were airing a legitimate concern-they claimed that the practice of selling on the general market made it impossible to know whether the meat they were buying was slaughtered by humane methods and that this caused injury to their 'moral principles' and 'aesthetic sensibilities. Ultimately, however, the court noted that the "proper forum for plaintiffs is the Congress and not the courts. ").
63. See Jeff Welty, Humane Slaughter Laws, 70 L. & Contemp. Prob. 175 (2007).
64. See, e.g., Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. Hialeah, 723 F. Supp. 1467, 1486 (S.D. Fla. 1989).
65. For more on this case: Tali H. Shaddow, Religious Ritual Exemptions: Sacrificing Animal Rights for Ideology, 24 Loyola LA L. Rev. 1367, 1386-390 (1991).
66. Slaughter standards in commercial abattoirs are dictated by the Australian and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council, Australian Standard for the Hygienic Production and Transportation of Meat and Meat Products for Human Consumption, § 7 (2007), available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/Books/download.cfm?ID=5553, which requires that: 7.09: Animals are slaughtered in a way that prevents unnecessary injury, pain and suffering to them and causes them the least practicable disturbance. 7.10: Before sticking commences animals are stunned in a way that ensures that the animals are unconscious and insensible to pain before sticking occurs and do not regain consciousness or sensibility before dying. Ritual Slaughter 7.12: (1) This provision only applies to animals killed under an approved arrangement that provides for ritual slaughter involving sticking without prior stunning; (2) An animal that is stuck without first being stunned and is not rendered unconscious as part of its ritual slaughter is stunned without delay after it is stuck to ensure that it is rendered unconscious.
67. In that case, parents and teachers at independent schools believed in mild corporal punishment for religious reasons. However, the use of corporal punishment by all teachers in all schools was prohibited by Section 548(1) of the Education Act 1996. The claimants alleged that their freedom to manifest their religion or beliefs under Article 9 was being interfered with by the Education Act 1996. The House of Lords held that that the manifestation of a belief that corporal punishment was an appropriate tool of discipline for children was capable of being protected so long as it was of a limited character, because as regards manifestation of beliefs, the law was that beliefs had to satisfy certain objective minimum thresholds relating to seriousness, coherence and conformity with accepted standards of human dignity and integrity. This was because the freedom to manifest beliefs was a qualified right, but that although the claimants had satisfied the test for objective minimum thresholds, the prohibition in section 548(1) was according to the House of Lords nevertheless justified. European Convention on Human Rights, art. 9(2), opened for signature 4 Nov. 1950, 213 U.N.T.S. 221, Eur. T.S. No. 5 (entered into force 3 Sept. 1953) [hereinafter ECHR].
68. In that case, parents and teachers at independent schools believed in mild corporal punishment for religious reasons. However, the use of corporal punishment by all teachers in all schools was prohibited by Section 548(1) of the Education Act 1996. The claimants alleged that their freedom to manifest their religion or beliefs under Article 9 was being interfered with by the Education Act 1996. The House of Lords held that that the manifestation of a belief that corporal punishment was an appropriate tool of discipline for children was capable of being protected so long as it was of a limited character, because as regards manifestation of beliefs, the law was that beliefs had to satisfy certain objective minimum thresholds relating to seriousness, coherence and conformity with accepted standards of human dignity and integrity. This was because the freedom to manifest beliefs was a qualified right, but that although the claimants had satisfied the test for objective minimum thresholds, the prohibition in section 548(1) was according to the House of Lords nevertheless justified. European Convention on Human Rights, art. 9(2), opened for signature 4 Nov. 1950, 213 U.N.T.S. 221, Eur. T.S. No. 5 (entered into force 3 Sept. 1953) [hereinafter ECHR].
69. In that case, parents and teachers at independent schools believed in mild corporal punishment for religious reasons. However, the use of corporal punishment by all teachers in all schools was prohibited by Section 548(1) of the Education Act 1996. The claimants alleged that their freedom to manifest their religion or beliefs under Article 9 was being interfered with by the Education Act 1996. The House of Lords held that that the manifestation of a belief that corporal punishment was an appropriate tool of discipline for children was capable of being protected so long as it was of a limited character, because as regards manifestation of beliefs, the law was that beliefs had to satisfy certain objective minimum thresholds relating to seriousness, coherence and conformity with accepted standards of human dignity and integrity. This was because the freedom to manifest beliefs was a qualified right, but that although the claimants had satisfied the test for objective minimum thresholds, the prohibition in section 548(1) was according to the House of Lords nevertheless justified. European Convention on Human Rights, art. 9(2), opened for signature 4 Nov. 1950, 213 U.N.T.S. 221, Eur. T.S. No. 5 (entered into force 3 Sept. 1953) [hereinafter ECHR].
70. In that case, parents and teachers at independent schools believed in mild corporal punishment for religious reasons. However, the use of corporal punishment by all teachers in all schools was prohibited by Section 548(1) of the Education Act 1996. The claimants alleged that their freedom to manifest their religion or beliefs under Article 9 was being interfered with by the Education Act 1996. The House of Lords held that that the manifestation of a belief that corporal punishment was an appropriate tool of discipline for children was capable of being protected so long as it was of a limited character, because as regards manifestation of beliefs, the law was that beliefs had to satisfy certain objective minimum thresholds relating to seriousness, coherence and conformity with accepted standards of human dignity and integrity. This was because the freedom to manifest beliefs was a qualified right, but that although the claimants had satisfied the test for objective minimum thresholds, the prohibition in section 548(1) was according to the House of Lords nevertheless justified. European Convention on Human Rights, art. 9(2), opened for signature 4 Nov. 1950, 213 U.N.T.S. 221, Eur. T.S. No. 5 (entered into force 3 Sept. 1953) [hereinafter ECHR].
71. Cha'are Shalom Ve Tsedek v. France, App. No. 27417/95, 2000-VII Eur. Ct. H.R. The case does not concern the question of stunning of animals.
72. Cha'are Shalom Ve Tsedek v. France, App. No. 27417/95, 2000-VII Eur. Ct. H.R. The case does not concern the question of stunning of animals.
73. Cha'are Shalom Ve Tsedek v. France, App. No. 27417/95, 2000-VII Eur. Ct. H.R. The case does not concern the question of stunning of animals.
74. Cha'are Shalom Ve Tsedek v. France, App. No. 27417/95, 2000-VII Eur. Ct. H.R. The case does not concern the question of stunning of animals.
75. Cha'are Shalom Ve Tsedek v. France, App. No. 27417/95, 2000-VII Eur. Ct. H.R. The case does not concern the question of stunning of animals.
76. Cha'are Shalom Ve Tsedek v. France, App. No. 27417/95, 2000-VII Eur. Ct. H.R. The case does not concern the question of stunning of animals.
77. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
78. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
79. Pablo Lerner & Alfredo Mordechai Rabello, The Prohibition of Ritual Slaughtering (Kosher Shechita and Halal) and Freedom of Religion of Minorities, 22 J. L. & Religion 1, 9 (2006/2007).
80. Temple Grandin & Joe M. Regenstein, Religious Slaughter and Animal Welfare: A Discussion for Meat Scientists, in Meat Focus Int'l 115 (Mar. 1994), available at http:// www.grandin.com/ritual/kosher.slaugh.html.
81. Jeremy Bentham, An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation, 311 available at http://files.libertyfund.org/files/278/0175_Bk.pdf.
82. "Animal Rights, " Encyclopaedia Britannica, available at http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/ topic/25760/animal-rights.
83. Paul Waldau, Animal Rights, What Everyone Needs to Know 56-73 (2011).
84. Paul Waldau, Animal Rights, What Everyone Needs to Know 56-73 (2011).
85. For more on this case: Tali H. Shaddow, Religious Ritual Exemptions: Sacrificing Animal Rights for Ideology, 24 Loyola LA L. Rev. 1367, 1386-390 (1991).
86. Russell Sandberg, Law and Religion 86 (2011).
87. Russell Sandberg, Law and Religion 86 (2011).
88. Case of Handyside v. United Kingdom, Judgment 7 Dec. 1976, App. No. 5493/72, ¶ 48.
89. Russell Sandberg, Law and Religion 86 (2011).
90. Tetty Havinga, On the Borderline Between State Law and Religious Law: Regulatory Arrangements Connected to Kosher and Halal Foods in the Netherlands and the United States, in Private Food Law, Governing Food Chains through Contract Law, Self-Regulation, Private Standards, Audits and Certification Schemes 265 (Bernd van der Meulen ed., 2011) available at http://www.wageningenacademic. com/_clientFiles/download/EIFL-06-e.pdf.
91. W.B.H.J. Van De Donk Et Al., Wetenschappelijke Raad Voor Het Regeringsbeleid, Geloven In Het Publieke Domein, 90 ¶ 4.1.2, (2006).
92. Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), Slaughter of Animals without Prior Stunning (FVE/02/104) (10 Mar. 2009), available at http://www.fve.org/news/position_papers/ animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf http://www.fve.org/news/position_ papers/animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf.
93. Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE), Slaughter of Animals without Prior Stunning (FVE/02/104) (10 Mar. 2009), available at http://www.fve.org/news/position_papers/ animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf http://www.fve.org/news/position_ papers/animal_welfare/fve_02_104_slaughter_prior_stunning.pdf.
94. See the reasoning above when considering the compatibility of reversible stunning with ritual slaughter.
95. Tetty Havinga, On the Borderline Between State Law and Religious Law: Regulatory Arrangements Connected to Kosher and Halal Foods in the Netherlands and the United States, in Private Food Law, Governing Food Chains through Contract Law, Self-Regulation, Private Standards, Audits and Certification Schemes 265 (Bernd van der Meulen ed., 2011) available at http://www.wageningenacademic. com/_clientFiles/download/EIFL-06-e.pdf.
96. Contactorgaan Moslims en Overheid, Position Paper: Bescherming van dierenwelzijn vergt geen inbreuk op de vrijheid van godsdienst! [Protection of Animal Welfare Does Not Require Infringing on the Freedom of Religion!] (2011), available at http://www. groenemoslims.nl/wp-content/uploads/Position_Paper_Ritueel_Slachten_Islam.pdf.
97. For more on this case: Tali H. Shaddow, Religious Ritual Exemptions: Sacrificing Animal Rights for Ideology, 24 Loyola LA L. Rev. 1367, 1386-390 (1991).