Polish court bans ritual animal slaughter, EU gives go-ahead

WARSAW (AFP) - Poland's top court on Tuesday ruled that the ritual slaughter of animals, a key tenet of the Jewish and Muslim faiths, was illegal, but the government insisted that new European Union (EU) rules would still allow the practice.

The Constitutional Court's ruling appeared largely symbolic, as it enters into force on Jan 1, the same day it is overriden by an EU directive setting common rules for the production of kosher and halal meat across the 27-nation bloc.

"There will be no doubt about this as of Jan 1," Agriculture Minister Stanislaw Kalemba told Polish public radio.

But animal rights campaigners questioned that, saying the incoming regulations allowed individual EU member states to request an exception.