Administration and Digitization Minister Michał Boni has asked the Government Legislation Centre for an expert opinion on whether religious communities are still allowed to practice ritual slaughter. Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal declared a law allowing such practices unconstitutional in December last year. In response, the government prepared legislation that would have legalized the practices, but Poland’s parliament voted it down on Friday. As a result, kosher and halal slaughter techniques are understood to be illegal in Poland.

Administration and Digitization Minister Michał Boni
Courtesy of Forum Ekonomiczne

However, interpretations of other, more specific laws – such as the law that regulates relations between the state and the Jewish community – mean that religious minorities may be able to slaughter animals in accordance with their own requirements.

“I think that in this huge debate we have run short of a sort of sensitivity that would allow us to both satisfy the expectations of those who want to defend animals … and to respect the needs of religious communities,” Mr Boni said.

**This article was published by Warsaw Business Journal. Read the original article here.