Poland is trying to settle the apparent conflict among the animal protection law, the Jewish communities law and the principle of freedom of religion guaranteed by the Polish constitution, said Polish Minister of Administration, Michal Jan Boni, who is also in charge of religious affairs.
Speaking at a press conference after a meting with Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich, Piotr Kadlcik, president of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, and Grand Mufti of Poland Tomasz Miskiewicz, the minister said : ‘’The only way to resolve this conflict between the rights of religious communities in Poland and this law (on animal rights) is to ask the Constitutional Court for a ruling. Until the Constitutional Court makes a ruling, everyone should reftrain from ritual slaughter, but at the same time, keep in mind the basic constitutional rights that the Polish Constitution guarantees religious minorities.
Boni asked Kadlcik and the chief rabbi to petition the court on the issue.
The minister has been named by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to head a special committee tasked with finding a legal solution to allow religious slaughter by the country’s Jewish and Muslim communities to continue.
Last week, he met in Brussels with Rabbi Menachem Margolin, Director General of the European Jewish Association (EJA) and said that he was prepared to take the ban on kosher slaughter to the Constitutional Court ‘’if necessary’’, informing him of the Polish governments' efforts to prevent the ban from taking effect.
According to Article 34 of Poland’s 1997 Law on the Protection of Animals, “A vertebrate animal in a slaughterhouse may be killed only after being knocked unconscious by qualified personnel.” But the 1997 Act on the Relation of the State to the Jewish Communities in Poland states that ritual slaughter may be performed in accordance with the needs of the local Jewish community.
Both Muslim and Jewish religious laws require animals be conscious when they are slaughtered.
“The position of the Jewish community is that shehita (the kosher slaughter) is not against Polish law, since the Jewish communities act is in force and no other law supersedes it,” said rabbi Schurdich, adding : ‘’We must and we will defend our rights, while at the same time preserve our good relations with the Polish government.”
Two wereks ago, the Sjem, the Polish parliament, voted against a lesgislation supported by the government that would have legalize kosher slaughter and made it an exception to the animal rights law, causing a furor among Jewish communities around the world.
The legislation was submitted after a Polish court ruled that shehita violated the animal rights law and could not be permitted by a ministerial decree.
“Many legal experts believe that the only way to resolve the conflict between the law and the rights of Poland’s religious communities is by petitioning the Constitutional Court and letting it rule on the matter. We will express our position in a most determined fashion and will bring most of the evidence from the Polish Constitution, which supports our position,’’ said Rabbi Schudrich, who said ‘’this is the most difficult moment for Polish-Jewish relations in 24 years since the fall of communism.’’
The ban drew an angry reaction from Israel, which called it “totally unacceptable”, while Polish farmers have complained that they will lose millions of zloty in lost exports.