Switzerland has been convicted by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) for failing to provide a fully vegan diet to two detainees who had requested meals consistent with their ethical beliefs. The decision was issued on 16 July 2026, when the Court ruled that the case involved a violation of freedom of thought and conscience, protected under Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The case concerns two Swiss anti-speciesist activists, aged 35 and 38, who had been arrested in connection with proceedings related to acts of property damage. Anti-speciesism is a philosophical view that rejects the idea that humans should automatically have greater moral value than other animals and argues that animals’ interests should also be taken into account.
One of the two men was held in pre-trial detention for almost a year at Champ-Dollon prison in the Canton of Geneva, while the other was admitted for around two months to a psychiatric facility in the Canton of Vaud. During their detention, both requested a completely vegan diet, free from animal products, arguing that this was not simply a personal preference but a deeply held ethical conviction.
After challenging the Swiss authorities’ refusal through the national legal system, the two detainees brought their case before the ECHR, arguing that Switzerland had violated their freedom of conscience.
The ECHR is the international court based in Strasbourg that monitors respect for fundamental rights in the countries belonging to the Council of Europe. Switzerland is one of its member states, despite not being part of the European Union. The Court is not an appeal court that replaces national judges, but it can intervene when individuals claim that a State has violated rights guaranteed by the Convention, after all available legal remedies at national level have been exhausted.
The Strasbourg Court accepted the claim, recognising that dietary choices can fall under the protection of Article 9 when they reflect a sincere and consistent personal conviction.
According to the European judges, Swiss authorities had failed to strike a sufficient balance between the practical organisation of prisons and the detainees’ right to act according to their beliefs.
Switzerland must therefore pay a total of €16,000 in compensation for the moral damage suffered by the two applicants, plus around €10,000 in legal costs, and review its procedures to ensure that requests for diets based on ethical convictions are assessed more carefully.
The ruling does not introduce an automatic right to a vegan menu for all prisoners. Instead, it establishes that States must properly consider dietary requests linked to personal convictions protected by the European Convention on Human Rights.
