On February 8th 2024, a lower court in Denmark, the court in the city of Hjorring granted the vegan movement in Denmark a milestone win. A Danish court has now ruled that vegans are protected under Article 9 of the European Court of Human Rights.
The ruling is the first of its kind in Denmark, and the Vegetarian Society of Denmark is proud to have taken this case to the courts and won.
The case was about the right of vegan children in public daycare institutions to be able to eat vegan food. A Danish kindergarten (and the municipality running it) had refused to prepare vegan food for a small child and at the same time denying the parents the possibility to send a packed lunch with their daughter. This was the essence of the case: That the family had been discriminated against by being kept from practicing their way of living, having to give up their moral position of not harming animals if their daughter was to use the public kindergarten.
The family contacted the Vegetarian Society to recieve help with the case and we have since worked together with them to try the case. The case was therefore brought forward by us at the Vegetarian Society of Denmark, on behalf of the family to clarify if the municipality had acted against the ECHR Article 9.
Secretary-General Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl of the Vegetarian Society of Denmark says:
“From the perspective of being able to live a daily life as a vegan or vegetarian, the access to vegan meals in public sector institutions – such as kindergartens, hospitals, nursing homes, etc. – has for years been a challenge. While some Danish hospitals or kindergartens prepare excellent vegan food, other places don’t offer it at all. Obviously, in many public institutions bringing your own packed lunch is not an option, e.g. most situations in hospitals, psychiatric treatment, nursing homes, etc. Our hope therefore is that this verdict will influence the availability of vegan options in other public institutions”.
In the ruling, the court acknowledges that vegans have the right to not be “treated worse than people without vegan convictions who are in a similar or comparable situation”.
The court agreed that the child: “due to the lack of opportunity to be served exclusively vegan food in the desired kindergarten and the simultaneous refusal to bring her own packed lunch, she was treated worse than children who do not live according to a vegan conviction, since she was cut off solely as a result of her vegan conviction from using the municipal daycare that her parents judged was best for her. She was thereby exposed to indirect discrimination. The discriminatory treatment cannot, as the matter has been explained to the court, be considered factually and reasonably justified, and it is therefore in breach of Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights in conjunction with Article 9.”
Another case underway
The family in this case was granted a symbolic compensation of approx. 1.500 eur (somehow in line with similar previous ECHR-based rulings with amounts of 3.000 Euros), and the municipality will also have to pay legal expenses and fees.
The verdict does not explicitly grant the right to be served vegan food in a daycare institution. However, that wasn’t explicitly the topic of the lawsuit, and the verdict doesn’t deny that right either, as it, indeed, acknowledges the right for vegans not to be treated worse than non-vegans. We have heard countless stories from citizens and families who have been denied the right to practice their belief when in contact with public kitchens and are more or less being told that if they cannot eat certain foods, the kitchens cannot accomodate them.
On April 25th 2024, another Danish court will hear another case, which the Vegetarian Society of Denmark has also brought forward, related to a woman, who during her pregnancy was denied a proper vegan meal at a hospital, and later told to bring a packed lunch for her childbirth. The ruling is expected 4 weeks later, before the end of May.
“It should be noted that Danish courts have to follow the European Court of Human Rights, as do other European countries. So, we hope that this win in Denmark, based on a Danish court’s interpretation of the ECHR, might be helpful or encouraging for vegans in other countries,” says Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl.