The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) upheld two Belgian regions to prohibit Islamic halal slaughter without stunning.
Two of the country's three regions – Flanders and Wallonia – in 2017 and 2018 banned the slaughter of livestock that have not been stunned on animal rights grounds.
The practice is still allowed in the capital region of Brussels.
The measure was seen as effectively outlawing the Muslim halal and Jewish kosher traditions, which require livestock to be conscious when their throats are slit.
Members of both religious communities and several non-governmental organizations filed a case with the ECtHR, arguing that the rulings violated their right to freedom of religion and were a form of discrimination.
But the ECHR found both regions were within their rights to impose such a ban.
It said the measure had been an interference with the applicants' freedom of religion but it "was justified as a matter of principle and could be regarded as proportionate to the aim pursued, namely the protection of animal welfare."
It found that the rulings were not a form of discrimination, including because they allowed for "reversible and non-lethal stunning."
The ECtHR is charged with ruling on violations of the European Convention on Human Rights, ratified by 46 countries.
