A constitutional court in Poland reportedly has ruled against allowing Jewish and Muslim ritual slaughter in the country.

The Warsaw court’s ruling, which was made known on Nov. 27, said the government had acted unconstitutionally when it exempted Jews and Muslims from stunning animals before slaughtering them, as their faiths require, according to Piotr Kadlcik, president of the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland.

Kadlcik said that in addition to the special exception announced by the Polish Ministry of Agriculture, Jewish ritual slaughter, or shechita, is permissible under the 1997 Law on Regulating the Relations between the State and the Union of Jewish Communities in Poland. He said the Jewish community is “seeking legal advice.”

Poland has approximately 6,000 Jews, according to the European Jewish Congress. — jta