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The purpose of this article is to analyze the precedents on religious freedom of religion (Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights) before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The ECtHR has readily justified restrictions on religious freedom by allowing member states a wide margin of appreciation. For example, it recently rejected denied a request by Muslims to he exempted from swimming lessons by accepting the government's argument of social integration on the basis of the protection of the rights of others under Article 9(2) of the Convention. However, the ECtHR rigorously examines the negative aspect of religious freedom, namely the inability to disclose one's religious beliefs, and allows a member states margin of appreciation and defends the rights of minorities. more...

日出町における土葬用墓地建設計画の許可をめぐる推進派と反対派の動きを法的に整理していくと現在の仕組みの限界が明らかになる。現行法の下では基礎的地方公共団体の内部問題として処理することしかできず、隣接する地方公共団体への影響を含めた処理が難しい。この現行法の論理構造は人権ないし自由に関する法的論理も同じであり、自由という概念を革新することが必要である。このような限界を現状に適応させずに多文化共生社会を推進するところに日本社会の課題がある。, A legal review of the moves by the proponents and opponents of the approval of the plan to construction of Muslim cemetery in HIJI Town reveals the limitations of the current social system. Under the current law, the issue can only be handled as an internal matter of the basic local government, and it is difficult to include the effects on neighboring basic local governments and the effects of administrative measure called a permission. This logical structure of the current law is the same for the legal logic of human rights and freedoms, and it is necessary to innovate the concept of freedom. Therefore, The challenge for Japanese society lies in promoting a multicultural society without adapting these limitations to the current situation. more...

This article, via an analysis of legislation, law-application practice, and individual elements of statistical information, reveals the implementation of the constitutional provision on the separation in Ukraine of the church (religious organizations) from the state and the school from the church. The authors state that the requirements of the constitutional legislation are not fully observed, and religious education at schools depends on religious organizations to a significant extent. The intensity and depth of the influence of religious organizations on educational institutions differs however at various levels of education and in different institutions. At the level of pre-school and general secondary education, due to state standardization and control, the sphere of autonomy of religious organizations in providing educational services is sufficiently narrow. At the level of higher education, in institutions founded by religious organizations, the educational process is carried out under the control of the religious organization itself, and the state and communal institutions (which train specialists majoring in theology) are under the aegis of the Ministry of Education and Science. Higher religious education (both that obtained in private institutions and that obtained in state or communal institutions) is de facto not separated from religious organizations, although the Constitution of Ukraine declares this. The confessional nature of theology is manifested in the content of academic courses and the organization of the educational process. In practice, however, the cooperation of churches with educational institutions is based on the need for the former to determine or at least influence the content of the training of their future ministers; for educational institutions, cooperation is a powerful tool for ensuring the employment of graduates of educational programs, and, respectively, directly affects the number of applicants. Celem artykułu jest ukazanie realizacji konstytucyjnego przepisu o oddzieleniu Kościoła (związków wyznaniowych) na Ukrainie od państwa oraz szkoły od Kościoła poprzez analizę ustawodawstwa, praktyki stosowania prawa oraz danych statystycznych. Zdaniem autorów obowiązujące w tym zakresie normy konstytucyjne nie są w pełni przestrzegane, a realizowana w szkołach edukacja religijna pozostaje w dużym stopniu zależna od związków wyznaniowych. Intensywność i głębokość wpływu związków wyznaniowych na instytucje edukacyjne różni się jednak w zależności od poziomu edukacji i rodzaju placówki. Na poziomie edukacji przedszkolnej i ogólnokształcącej, ze względu na obowiązującą standaryzację i kontrolę państwową, sfera autonomii związków wyznaniowych w świadczeniu usług edukacyjnych jest dość wąska. Na poziomie szkolnictwa wyższego, w instytucjach założonych przez związki wyznaniowe, o procesie kształcenia decydują same związki wyznaniowe, natomiast w instytucjach państwowych i samorządowych, które kształcą specjalistów w zakresie teologii, proces ten jest realizowany pod nadzorem Ministerstwa Edukacji i Nauki. De facto wyższe wykształcenie teologiczne (zarówno uzyskiwane w instytucjach prywatnych, jak i w instytucjach państwowych lub samorządowych) nie jest oddzielone od organizacji religijnych, chociaż tak stanowi Konstytucja Ukrainy. Wyznaniowy charakter teologii przejawia się w treści wykładanych przedmiotów oraz w organizacji procesu nauczania. Jednak w praktyce współpraca kościołów z instytucjami edukacyjnymi opiera się na potrzebie, aby te pierwsze decydowały lub przynajmniej miały wpływ na treść kształcenia przyszłych duchownych i pracowników instytucji kościelnych, natomiast dla instytucji oferujących kształcenie współpraca ta stanowi gwarancję zatrudnienia absolwentów oferowanych programów edukacyjnych, co bezpośrednio wpływa na liczbę kandydatów. more...

This article examines how religious freedom has been implemented and interpreted in Finland over the last hundred years. Moving chronologically, I explore the most crucial developmental phases in religious freedom legislation and public discussion. The Act on the Freedom of Religion was only introduced after Finland’s independence in 1917 and entered into force at the beginning of 1923. The article shows themes that provoked much discussion in the 1920s and were interestingly repeated in the debate in the 1960s. The question of the relationship between the church and state was at the core of the Finnish public debate on freedom of religion from the outset. A similar discussion again became visible at the turn of the twenty-first century in connection with the basic rights reform and processing of the new Act on the Freedom of Religion. The strength of the Finnish state church system in society is still illustrated by the fact that the Act on the Freedom of Religion of 2003 did not really change the basic premise regarding the Lutheran and Orthodox churches, which hold a special position. Opinion remains divided on whether such a system is problematic for the realization of religious freedom. more...

A central premise of the concept of freedom of religion is that the state has the obligation and authority to regulate and protect the religious rights of individuals and religious communities. However, this entails the state’s navigation of the rights of citizens vis-à-vis the norms of their religious communities, which in some cases may be in tension. The state must also maintain the country’s central legal principles. These premises are interconnected in vexing ways. This article studies how the concept of freedom of religion, with these underlying premises, applies to the practice of Islamic law in Finland. This question is reflected through an analysis of Finnish Muslims' marriage practices. We argue for a nuanced understanding of the relationship between Islamic family law and freedom of religion. Towards this goal we employ the concept of wellbeing (building on Sarah White 2010) to locate the practice of Islamic family law in Finnish Muslims’ daily lives, whereby they pursue material, relational, and ethical needs and aspirations. We analyse how individuals conclude their marriages and the diverse motivations and meanings underlying these practices. Our aim is to capture the familial, economic, racial, political, and ethical processes through which Finnish Muslims continually and dynamically organize marriage (and divorce) and the implications for their freedom of religion on the one hand and for the Finnish state on the other. Our analysis draws on interview data collected in an ethnographic study of Muslim marriage and divorce practices in Finland in the period between 2013 and 2018. more...

Debates and controversies over the governance of religious diversity are important features of the social and political landscape in all five regions covered in this collection. All have historical as well as contemporary forms of these debates that have had a significant impact on not just the structures and forms of governance but also on the very identity of each state as it has grappled, and continues to grapple, with religious diversity and the issues it raises. This final contribution presents an inter-regional comparative analysis and findings of different modes of state-religion connections between our different regions, following on from the discussions in the individual contributions of the collection focused on intra-regional analyses. Moreover, central to state-religion relations is the idea of political secularism and so we offer a definition of political secularism from which we can compare countries and regions. We assess the idea of political secularism against our typology of modes of governance of religious diversity and explore convergences and divergences between our regions along three conceptual lines: the idea of secularism, the idea of freedom of religion, and the relationship between national identity and religion. more...

The Constitutional Court has not been able to find a stable methodology that allows it to prosecute cases related to freedom of expression when the exercise of this, due to its content and characteristics, has led to a criminal conviction. The jurisprudence of the Court has been changing to the point that at present it is extremely difficult to predict with a minimum certainty how it will face a case of this type: after a process of initial and laborious expansion of the scope of freedom of expression cul-minating in STC 35/2020, the Court has returned in a short time to stag-es that seemed to be overcome and that were based on a certain distrust or prevention against the exercise of such freedom and on an expansive interpretation of the criminal offenses that may affect it, excluding it. Paradoxically, this distrust coexists in its last jurisprudence with a whole series of praises to the function of freedom of expression that later find no real reflection in the decision of the Court, which after making that initial favorable assessment proceeds to a restrictive interpretation of said free-dom, resorting to a strict and very limiting understanding of criteria such as the linking of that freedom to the formation of a free public opinion or the need or not of the uttered expression. No less relevant is the usual recourse to hate speech and subjective factors of all kinds, which are useful to exclude freedom of expression without special argumentative effort in the most varied cases. On these bases, the Court has tried different methodologies for approaching these cases, with no reasons appearing to explain the constant changes in criteria shown from sentence to sentence. The overall result, as has been said, is a notable legal uncertainty for the interpreter and for the citizen in general; a growing discouraging effect for the exercise of the aforementioned freedom in view of the risk of criminal proceedings being activated; the insufficient assessment of the criterion of proportionality in recourse to this means and, finally, the overprotection of a series of legal rights whose prevalence over a fundamental right such as the one analyzed is complex to explain with the reasons that the Court adopts. Therefore, the ultimate purpose of this work is to highlight the existing problems in the field analyzed and provide proposals that allow overcoming the current situation El Tribunal Constitucional no ha logrado encontrar una metodología estable que le permita enjuiciar casos relativos a la libertad de expresión cuando el ejercicio de esta, por su contenido y características, ha llevado a una condena penal. La jurisprudencia del Tribunal ha sido cambiante hasta el punto de que en la actualidad resulta sumamente difícil predecir con una mínima certeza cómo vaya a enfrentarse aquél a un caso de este tipo: tras un proceso de inicial y trabajosa ampliación del ámbito de la libertad de expresión que culminó en la STC 35/2020, el Tribunal ha vuelto en poco tiempo a etapas que parecían superadas y que se basaban en una cierta desconfianza o prevención frente al ejercicio de tal libertad y en una interpretación expansiva de los tipos penales que pueden incidir sobre ella excluyéndola. Paradójicamente, esa desconfianza convive en su jurisprudencia última con toda una serie de loas a la función de la libertad de expresión que después no hallan reflejo real en la decisión del Tribunal, que tras realizar esa valoración inicial favorable procede a una interpretación restrictiva de dicha libertad, acudiendo a un entendimiento estricto y muy limitativo de criterios como el de la vinculación de aquella a la formación de una opinión pública libre o el de la necesidad o no de la expresión proferida. No menos relevante es el habitual recurso al discurso del odio y a factores subjetivos de toda índole, que resultan útiles para excluir sin especial esfuerzo argumentativo la libertad de expresión en los supuestos más variados. Sobre esas bases, el Tribunal ha ensayado diferentes metodologías de aproximación a estos casos, sin que aparezcan razones que expliquen los constantes cambios de criterio que se muestran de sentencia en sentencia. El resultado global, como se ha dicho, es una notable inseguridad jurídica para el intérprete y para el ciudadano en general; un creciente efecto desaliento para el ejercicio de la citada libertad ante el riesgo de que se active la vía penal; la insuficiente valoración del criterio de proporcionalidad en el recurso a dicha vía y, por último, la sobreprotección de una serie de bienes jurídicos cuya prevalencia sobre un derecho fundamental como el analizado resulta compleja de explicar con las razones que el Tribunal adopta. Por todo ello, el propósito último de este trabajo es el de poner de manifiesto la problemática existente en el ámbito analizado y aportar propuestas que permitan superar la actual situación more...

The purpose of this article is to analyse and discuss Selma and the Quest for the Perfect Faith, a TV series made by The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation and promoted for use in schools, and the accompanying teaching material about freedom of religion made by Save the Children. We discuss the series and material critically from a human rights and a human rights education perspective, and evaluate their suitability for use in religious education. The article is informed by mediatisation theory and argues that freedom of religion is primarily operationalised in accordance with journalistic criteria for presenting religion, and that it does not sufficiently balance the rights of children and the liberty of parents. This is inconsistent with sound human rights education and highlights the need for critical awareness when operationalising educational material produced and distributed by media actors for use in the classroom. more...

The implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) often lacks in human rights perspective, although the goals themselves were created based on the human rights principles. However, further studies in development and international human rights law show that it is essential to highlight that particular relationship. As a member of the international community, states have an extraterritorial obligation to assist one another in developing and fulfilling the human rights of their people. Particularly in the field of freedom of religion or belief and gender equality, which creates a domino effect on other women's rights such as access to justice and education. Although SDG 2030 has expressed its commitment to respect, protect, and promote fundamental freedoms, including one's religion, and to achieve gender equality, the antagonistic construction between those two issues possibly harm the women’s rights movement and does not adhere to the “no one left behind” principle. The lack of recognition between those issues would be damaging and could be deemed a failure to achieve the sustainable development goals. This research was conducted through a qualitative legal analysis by analysing relevant literary sources to understand the hidden link between freedom of religion or belief and gender equality within the sustainable development agenda. Clarity of these complex elements can be beneficial in creating a tool in advocating for women’s rights, especially for those who belong to religious and belief minorities. more...

The COVID-19 pandemic urges governments worldwide to take sufficient measures to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As a result, policy makers must keep re-evaluating measures that protect public health on the one hand but might infringe fundamental rights and freedoms on the other. For example, some measures taken in The Netherlands regard group size, thus limiting the right to freedom of assembly. Places of worship have been and are currently exempted from measures, including the obligation to wear a face mask and show a valid ‘COVID-pass’ at the entrance. However, a legislative proposal is now pending which includes the possibility to close places of worship in case of a COVID-19 outbreak. This paper discusses the evolution of the Dutch COVID-19 measures with respect to places of worship, and places some critical remarks at the former and current COVID-19 policy as well as the pending legislative proposal. more...

The COVID-19 pandemic urges governments worldwide to take sufficient measures to stop the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. As a result, policy makers must keep re-evaluating measures that protect public health on the one hand but might infringe fundamental rights and freedoms on the other. For example, some measures taken in The Netherlands regard group size, thus limiting the right to freedom of assembly. Places of worship have been and are currently exempted from measures, including the obligation to wear a face mask and show a valid ‘COVID-pass’ at the entrance. However, a legislative proposal is now pending which includes the possibility to close places of worship in case of a COVID-19 outbreak. This paper discusses the evolution of the Dutch COVID-19 measures with respect to places of worship, and places some critical remarks at the former and current COVID-19 policy as well as the pending legislative proposal. more...

Purpose: to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the objects of criminal offenses, the legal compositions of which are provided for in the dispositions of art.180 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, taking into account the provisions of the theory of criminal law. Methods: deduction, formal-legal, logical-legal, cognitive-analytical, comparative-legal analysis and others. Results: taking into account a comprehensive analysis of the issue, the article analyzes both the object of the criminal offense in general and the objects of criminal offenses of specific crimes, the legal compositions of which are provided for in the dispositions "Obstruction of the implementation of a religious rite" art.180 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The proposed solution of some important debatable issues, in particular, attention is paid to the issues of the general structure of the studied article of the Criminal Code of Ukraine of the Special Part of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, the definition and structure of objects of crimes. Discussion: considered modern concepts of the object of criminal offense. The article analyzes the general object of criminal offenses, the generic object of criminal offenses against electoral, labor and other personal rights and freedoms of man and citizen, specific and direct objects of criminal offenses, the legal compositions of which are provided for in the dispositions of art.180 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In the theory of criminal law of Ukraine, there is a four-stage and three-stage classification of objects of criminal offenses. The four-stage classification of the object of a criminal offense more clearly reflects the common features of homogeneous criminal offenses, which, in particular, are contained in Chapter V of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The structure of the object of criminal offense as a general phenomenon of criminal law, as well as the direct objects of crimes, the legal compositions of which are provided for in the dispositions of art.180 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. In particular, the direct main and additional objects of crimes, signs of victims of crimes and the non-objective nature of the crimes contained in art.180 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Мета: провести комплексний аналіз об’єктів кримінальних правопорушень, юридичні склади яких передбачені у диспозиціях ст.180 КК України, з урахуванням положень теорії кримінального права. Методи дослідження: дедукції, формально-юридичний, логіко-юридичний, пізнавально-аналітичний, порівняльно-правового аналізу та інші. Результати: запропоноване вирішення деяких важливих дискусійних питань, зокрема, увага приділена питанням загальної структури Особливої частини КК України, визначенню і структурі об’єктів злочинів, юридичні склади яких передбачені у диспозиціях ст.180 КК України. Обговорення: розглянуті сучасні концепції об’єкта кримінального правопорушення. Проаналізовані безпосередні об’єкти кримінальних правопорушень, юридичні склади яких передбачені у диспозиціях ст.180 «Перешкоджання здійсненню релігійного обряду» КК України. more...

El Estado colombiano a través del Presidente de la República, del Ministerio del Interior y de los entes territoriales, han adoptado a través de la historia unos lineamientos y/o acciones por medio de políticas públicas, en este caso particular, la Política Pública Integral de Libertad Religiosa; que sirve como guía para la materialización y protección de derechos fundamentales como son la libertad religiosa y de cultos, la libertad de conciencia, derecho a la igualdad, derecho a la participación; y el cumplimiento de los fines esenciales del actuar del Estado. Es por ello, que, en el marco de su competencia establecida previamente por tratados internacionales que han sido ratificados por Colombia, la Constitución política, leyes, decretos, la jurisprudencia y demás normas relacionadas, deben adelantar estrategias y mecanismos que promuevan la implementación de esta política pública en todo el territorio colombiano. A fin de que, el actuar de las entidades del estado, se adapte a las nuevas realidades y necesidades que van surgiendo en materia religiosa, y a los conceptos de diversidad, pluralismo, equidad y participación, dirigido en esta oportunidad al departamento del Meta. Colombia’s government through the President of the Republic, the Ministry of the Interior and the territorial entities, have adopted throughout history some guidelines and/or actions through public policies, and in this case, the Integral Public Policy of Religious Freedom; which serves as a guide for the materialization and protection of fundamental rights such as religious freedom and worship, freedom of conscience, right to equality, right to participation; and the fulfillment of the essential purposes of the state. For that reason, within the framework of their competence previously established by international treaties ratified by Colombia, the Political Constitution, laws, decrees, jurisprudence and other related norms, they must advance strategies and mechanisms that promote the implementation of this public policy in the Colombian territory. So that way, the actions of state entities adapt to the new realities and needs that are emerging in religious matters and related to t concepts like diversity, pluralism, equity, and participation, directed on this occasion to Meta department. Especialista en Derecho Administrativo http://www.ustavillavicencio.edu.co/home/index.php/unidades/extension-y-proyeccion/investigacion Especialización more...

In terms of section 29(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution), ''everyone has the right to basic education''. At the same time the Constitution provides that everyone has the right to freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion, and the right to participate in the cultural life of his or her choice. Children's right to education versus their right to religion and culture is a highly debated topic in South Africa. The Constitution guarantees both the right to education and the right to religion and culture. In the culturally diverse South African environment the right to education and the child's right to participate in the cultural life of their choice may conflict with each other. The conflict referred to can mean that the child's right to participate in the cultural life of his or her choice might be sacrificed to the right to education. One such instance is the wearing of a headscarf in schools. The headscarf, also known as a hijab, is a traditional piece of clothing worn by Muslim women in accordance with their religious beliefs. The wearing of a headscarf in schools has become a contentious issue as it is seen by some as conflicting with the principles of education and the dress codes of schools. The government has a constitutional obligation to provide basic education to all children in the country. This right is seen as a crucial factor in ensuring that children can develop to their full potential. On the other hand, the right to religion and culture is equally important as it allows individuals to practice their religious beliefs and maintain their cultural identity. To evaluate discrimination against children in a culturally diverse classroom, it is mandatory to look at what the right to basic education entails and what obligations this right place on the state -more specifically on the Department of Basic Education - when it comes to promoting the right to basic education while protecting children's other constitutional rights. The government must adopt a balanced approach to ensure that both the right to education and the right to religion and culture are respected and protected. This study will investigate whether the state fulfils its obligation to protect the child's constitutional right to basic education without infringing on the child's right to religion and culture. more...

Based on gender-centric issues, this paper identifies ‘the other’ as women either as colonial subjects or as Muslim women in the modern world. In this definition of ‘the other’, I contend that ‘the other’, aren’t and weren’t voiceless and the inability to acknowledge these voices is because of the existing version of what is an ‘acceptable voice’. This definition of an ‘acceptable voice’ is supported through the colonial quest supported by imperial feminism and knowledge production. Hence, to acknowledge the voices of ‘the other’, the meaning of ‘acceptable voice’ needs to be decolonized. more...

The relationship between state and non-Muslim communities has been a de-licate issue since the founding of the Turkish Republic despite the principle of secularism stated in its constitution. Against this background, the association of national identity with Sunni-Islam has been the main marker of inclusion/exclusi-on for national identity. Especially since 2002 when the Justice and Development Party (JDP) came to power, the debate with regard to freedom of religion and the rights of religious minorities came to the fore. Over the course of decades there have been numerous studies approaching the state’s perspective towards religious minorities. However, there is a paucity of academic studies that focuses on citizen-ship experiences of the members of these communities through the course of their daily and social lives. In this article, we first provide a historical perspective of the state towards religious minorities from the establishment of the Republic until to-day, including the JDP period. In the second part of this study we aim to explore recasting perspectives of the non-Muslim minorities over the previous decade by taking the standpoint of the members of Greek Orthodox, Jews and Armenian communities. To this end, we conduct in-depth interviews with the members of these communities who reside in Istanbul. Finally, new negotiation fields which have been flourishing among these communities will be addressed. Vse od ustanovitve republike Turčije je kljub načelu sekularnosti, ki je zapisa-no v njeni ustavi, odnos med državo in nemuslimanskimi skupnostmi občutljivo vprašanje, povezovanje nacionalne identitete s sunitskim islamom pa glavni ozna-čevalec za vključenost v nacionalno identiteto ali izključevanje iz nje. Zlasti z letom 2002, ko je na oblast prišla Stranka za pravičnost in razvoj (JDP), je v ospredje stopila razprava o verski svobodi in pravicah verskih manjšin. Čeprav so v preteklih dveh desetletjih številne študije preučevale stališče države do verskih manjšin, pa je akademskih raziskav, ki bi se osredotočale na državljanske izkušnje pripadnikov teh skupnosti iz vsakdanjega in družbenega življenja zelo malo. Avtorici v prispev-ku najprej predstavita odnos države do verskih manjšin v zgodovinski perspektivi, od ustanovitve republike do danes, vključno z obdobjem vladavine stranke JDP. V drugem delu študije skozi poglede pripadnikov grške pravoslavne, judovske in armenske skupnosti raziskujeta, kako se je stališče do nemuslimanskih manjšin spremenilo v preteklem desetletju. V ta namen sta izvedli poglobljene intervjuje s pripadniki teh skupnosti, ki živijo v Istanbulu. V sklepnem delu raziskave pa obravnavata nova pogajalska področja, ki se uspešno razvijajo v teh skupnostih. more...

Artykuł stanowi przegląd tematyki badań podejmowanych na Wydziale Prawa i Administracji Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego w zakresie historii prawa kościelnego oraz historii prawa wyznaniowego. Jest uzupełnieniem wcześniejszych publikacji, mających na celu opracowanie pełnej historii studiów prowadzonych w tym Uniwersytecie w zakresie prawa kanonicznego i prawa wyznaniowego. W tekście zaprezentowano tematykę badań oraz stanowiące ich efekt publikacje w układzie tematycznym i chronologicznym. Jak podkreślono, liczne spośród zagadnień podejmowanych przez krakowskich badaczy były też analizowane przez Księdza Profesora Henryka Misztala, zwłaszcza w jego monografii pt. Polskie prawo wyznaniowe. The article is a presentation of the research topics in the field of the history of canon law and the history of law on religion which have been undertaken at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Jagiellonian University in the last 20 years. It complements previous studies aimed at compiling the entire history of research in canon law and law on religion conducted at the University. The text presents the research topics and the associated publications in a thematic and chronological order. As it is emphasized, many of the issues analysed by the Cracow researchers are an extension of the topics discussed by Rev. Professor Henryk Misztal, especially in his monograph Polskie prawo wyznaniowe (Polish Law on Religion). more...

We discuss whether and under what conditions people should be allowed to choose which COVID-19 vaccine to receive on the basis of personal ethical views. The problem arises primarily with regard to some religious groups’ concerns about the connection between certain COVID-19 vaccines and abortion. Vaccines currently approved in Western countries make use of foetal cell lines obtained from aborted foetuses either at the testing stage (Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines) or at the development stage (Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine). The Catholic Church’s position is that, if there are alternatives, Catholic people have a moral obligation to request the vaccine whose link with abortion is more remote, which at present means that they should refuse the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. We argue that any consideration regarding free choice of the vaccine should apply to religious and non-religious claims alike, in order to avoid religion-based discrimination. However, we also argue that, in a context of limited availability, considering the significant differences in costs and effectiveness profile of the vaccines available, people should only be allowed to choose the preferred vaccine if: 1) this does not risk compromising vaccination strategies; and 2) they internalize any additional cost that their choice might entail. The State should only subsidize the vaccine that is more cost-effective for any demographic group from the point of view of public health strategies. more...

Legal regulation of religious conversion has become one of the central human rights issues worldwide. Numerous countries, especially in South Asia, have enacted laws that prohibit proselytizating on the grounds of force, allurement, and misrepresentation. Critics have consistently relied on freedom of religion to oppose these laws, but courts in these jurisdictions have upheld them on the very grounds of religious freedom. The present Article explains the historical and ideological bases of this counterintuitive approach to religious freedom by focusing on the case of India. It argues that this approach is based on a historically evolving conception of religion associated with modern Hinduism, according to which all religions have an equal claim to spiritual truth. This precept of religious equality has come to constitute the political and judicial approach to religious freedom and religious conversion laws. The Article uses this interpretive insight to renew the normative critique of such laws. more...

This paper investigates intersecting rights and ways of thinking in faith-based schools. It outlines current legislative attempts to manage anti-discrimination in Australian schools and proposes a ... more...

Despite the normative integration between freedom of religion or belief (FORB) and women’s equality, these synergies are difficult to discern and there is a common misperception that women’s rights to equality and FORB are clashing rights. This is compounded by the extensive religiously phrased reservations by states upon ratification of international treaties that amplify this misperception that FORB serves to restrict women’s rights to equality. The advocacy groups supporting these rights, and also their normative sources in international human rights law instruments, are largely distinct. However, general non-discrimination provisions do address both, and General Comment no. 28 captures both rights holistically. The correctives to these misperceptions lie in reflecting upon the universality, indivisibility, interdependence, and interrelatedness of all human rights norms. They also lie in the realization that FORB is a right like any other. FORB is neither a right of “religion” as such nor an instrument for support of religiously phrased reservations and limitations on women’s rights to equality. This is particularly the case with harmful practices, as elaborated in the joint general recommendation/General Comment no. 31 of the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and no. 18 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child however, the core principles also extend to other infringements of women’s rights to equality. It is essential to (re)vitalize the synergies between FORB and women’s equality in order to advance each of these rights, to be able to address overlapping rights concerns, and to adequately acknowledge intersectional claims. Furthermore, the relevant advocacy groups and human rights mechanisms need to give further attention to this as a priority matter. more...

The study reviews the regulation of the freedom of religion in the age of dualism in Hungary. Dualism was the era of the transforming Hungarian society; the article gives a description of the ongoing socio-economic processes. Although freedom of religion was already regulated in 1848, the most significant laws were enacted in 1894 and 1895. The regulation of religious freedom has also influenced the enactment of other laws, such as the content of laws on matrimonial/birth registration or marriage, so these laws are also presented by the author. The period distinguished between the accepted and recognised religions; they are also presented to the reader in detail in the study together with the views of the prominent politicians and statesmen of the period. During this period, the current outlines of the freedom of religion developed, and after the repressive era of socialism, this freedom restored its foundations of the rule of law with the change of the regime. more...

Over the past decade, countries such as France, Belgium, Denmark, Austria, Latvia, and Bulgaria have banned face-coverings from public spaces. These bans are popularly known as ‘burqa bans’ as they seem to have been drafted with the aim of preventing people from wearing burqas and niqabs specifically. The scholarly response to these bans has been overwhelmingly negative, with several lawyers and philosophers arguing that they violate the human right to freedom of religion. While this article shares some of the concerns that have been raised, it argues that banning face-coverings in public is morally justified under certain conditions with the exception of facemasks that are necessary for the containment of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. The reason for this is that those who publicly cover their face make it very difficult for other members of society to socially interact with them, especially for those who are deaf or hard-of-hearing, which is problematic in an age where many people are chronically lonely or at risk of becoming chronically lonely. As such, this article can be understood as a more elaborate, and arguably more sophisticated, defence of the justification that France offered for its face-covering ban before the European Court of Human Rights, namely that covering one’s face undermines the conditions for ‘living together’. more...

During the second year, the most pressing issue for the entire world community is the fight against the COVID-19 virus. The situation, the precedents of which were unknown to the modern society, has become a litmus test for almost all state mechanisms in the world.As it became clear from the first days of quarantine, no system in the state was ready for such a blow. Public authorities chaotically issued regulations that largely contained prohibitions and restrictions, but did not devise a mechanism for alternative measures that could be proposed to the public as opposed to prohibitions.Restrictions affected both personal non-property rights and certain types of social, political, cultural, economic and so on.In turn, citizens were restricted in the right to peaceful assembly, the right to respect for private life, the right to respect for honor and dignity, the right to freedom of religion, the right to education, the right to access medical care.Entertainment, sports, cultural, religious and other mass events were banned. The operation of shopping and entertainment centers, catering establishments, and other cultural and sports establishments was suspended.The question of the expediency of such prohibitions in some spheres of life of our society and the outright inaction of the state in others increasingly arose among legal scholars. What was the value of the story with our citizens returning from Wuhan and being observed in Sanzhary, under the close attention of the public, which caused great panic among the population, and the crowd of workers who crossed the Ukrainian borders returning from European countries.Another very interesting topic, in our opinion, is the impossibility or unwillingness of government agencies to keep under control the pricing of protection, which at one point rose in price 10 times. Or the lack of any real social guarantees and benefits for forced unemployed citizens.This list can be very long. In this study, we tried to reveal the proportionality of the restriction of personal non-property rights of citizens during quarantine, and whether they were really necessary. more...

W odpowiedzi na szybkie rozprzestrzenianie się epidemii koronawirusa władze państwowe w Polsce, podobnie jak w innych krajach w innych krajach zdecydowały się na wprowadzenie różnych ograniczeń praw i wolności, w tym wolności praktyk religijnych. Celem niniejszego opracowania jest analiza i ocena stanowiska, jakie zajęli duszpasterzy Kościoła katolickiego w Polsce i jego wiernych wobec tych ograniczeń podczas pierwszej fali pandemii. Analiza materiałów źródłowych, w tym dokumentów publikowanych przez przedstawicieli Konferencji Episkopatu Polski oraz biskupów diecezjalnych (lub zastępców kurialnych), prowadzi do wniosku, że w swoich oficjalnych komunikatach biskupi praktycznie jednogłośnie popierali ograniczenia nałożone przez państwo, często przyznając im sankcję prawa kanonicznego lub wprowadzając jeszcze bardziej restrykcyjne rozwiązania we własnych diecezjach. Co więcej, analiza przekazu medialnego dotyczącego pierwszej fali pandemii, a także socjologiczne badania opinii publicznej, koncentrujące się na polskich wiernych w Polsce, wynika, że zarówno wierni, jak i szeregowi duchowni wykazywali się spolaryzowaną oceną postawy biskupów wobec ograniczeń. Analiza ta pozwala jednak na obalenie wyrażanego w literaturze, a podzielanego przez część wiernych, twierdzenia o nadmiernej uległości biskupów wobec władz państwowych. Nasze badania dowodzą, że twierdzenie to nieco zniekształca rzeczywistość. Postawę hierarchów Kościoła należy raczej widzieć jako wyraz ich odpowiedzialności za dobro wspólne. Na krytykę bardziej zasługuje natomiast z drugiej strony, nadmierne skupienie się przekazu kościelnego tego okresu na ograniczaniu wolności praktykowania religii, podczas gdy prawo wiernych do dóbr duchowych Kościoła zostało relegowane na dalszy plan (kan. 213 CIC-1983). Przyjmując ramy badawcze opracowane m.in. przez Josepha Cardijna ("widzieć - ocenić - działać"), nasza analiza kończy się zaleceniem, aby w razie podobnego kryzysu w przyszłości, instytucja Kościoła powinna raczej skupić swoje przesłanie do wiernych na zabezpieczeniu wspomnianego prawa wiernych w kontekście narzuconych przez państwo ograniczeń, przyjmując postawę typową dla adresata norm prawnych, zgodnie z wnioskami wyciągniętymi z własnej autonomii i niezależności jako podstaw zasad leżących u podstaw relacji państwo-Kościół zarówno w nauce Kościoła, jak i prawie polskim. first_page settings Order Article Reprints Open AccessArticle The Catholic Church in Poland, Her Faithful, and the Restrictions on Freedom to Practise Religion during the First Wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic by Piotr Stanisz 1,* [ORCID] , Dariusz Wadowski 2 [ORCID] , Justyna Szulich-Kałuża 2 [ORCID] , Małgorzata Nowak 3 [ORCID] and Mirosław Chmielewski 4 [ORCID] 1 Institute of Legal Sciences, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland 2 Institute of Journalism and Management, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland 3 Institute of Linguistics, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland 4 Institute of Theology, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Religions 2022, 13(12), 1228; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel13121228 Received: 20 November 2022 / Revised: 9 December 2022 / Accepted: 13 December 2022 / Published: 19 December 2022 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholic Education) Download Versions Notes Abstract In response to the rapid spread of the coronavirus epidemic, the state authorities in Poland—as in other countries—decided to introduce various restrictions on rights and freedoms, including the freedom to practise religion. The purpose of this study is to analyse and evaluate the position taken by the ministers of the Catholic Church in Poland and her faithful towards these restrictions during the first wave of the pandemic. An analysis of source material, including documents published by representatives of the Conference of Polish Bishops and diocesan bishops (or curial deputy officials), leads to the conclusion that, in their official messages, the bishops virtually unanimously supported the restrictions imposed by the state, often granting them the sanction of canon law, or introducing even more restrictive solutions in their own dioceses. Moreover, an analysis of the media coverage of the first wave of the pandemic, as well as sociological opinion research focusing on Poland’s Catholic faithful, concludes that both the faithful and ‘rank-and-file’ clergy exhibited a polarised assessment of the stance adopted by the bishops towards the restrictions. However, this analysis allows for the refutation of the claim expressed in the literature, and shared by some of the faithful, about the bishops’ excessive submissiveness to the state authorities. Our research proves that this claim somewhat distorts the reality. Rather, the attitude of the hierarchs of the Church needs to be seen as an expression of their responsibility for the common good. More deserving of criticism, on the other hand, is the excessive focus of the ecclesiastical message of this period on the restrictions on the freedom to practise religion, while the right of the faithful to the spiritual goods of the Church was relegated to the background (Can. 213 CIC-1983). In adopting the research framework developed by Joseph Cardijn (‘see–judge–act’), our analysis concludes with the recommendation that, should a similar crisis arise in the future, the institution of the Church should rather focus its message to the faithful on securing the said right in the context of the state-imposed restrictions, by adopting the attitude typical of that of an addressee of legal norms, in line with the conclusions drawn from its own autonomy and independence as underlying principles of the State-Church relationship in both Church teachings and Polish law. The Ministry of Education and Science, the Republic of Poland more...

Political and legal debate about freedom of religion and belief (FoRB) in Australia has intensified since the same-sex marriage postal survey in 2017. Central to this debate has been children, their parents and institutions (Schools). This paper outlines the place of children in the Australian FoRB since 2017, focusing on the same-sex marriage postal survey debate and subsequent reviews into FoRB. In particular, it highlights the links drawn between same-sex marriage or marriage equality and the Safe School Coalition Australia campaign, the emphasis on parental rights in relation to education about marriage in schools, and the ongoing debate about potential reform to Australia’s suite of anti-discrimination laws, including the failed federal Religious Discrimination Bill. more...

The right to religion is well protected in the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, 1996 (the Constitution) as well as attendant legislation. Section 15(1) of the Constitution provides that all persons have the right to freedom of religion. Section 31(1) of the Constitution then goes on to state that persons who belong to a religious community, amongst others, may not be denied the right to practise their religion with other members of that community. Section 9(3) of the Constitution prohibits the state from unfairly discriminating against any person directly or indirectly on several grounds, which include the ground of religion. Section 9(4) of the Constitution on the other hand prohibits any person from unfairly discriminating against any other person on the ground of religion, amongst others. These constitutional protections resonate in both the Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 and the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998. Despite these protections, the right to freedom of religion is still a contested subject in the workplace, inter alia. The contestation intensifies when the right to freedom of religion results in an employee not being able to comply with one or more of the employer's workplace needs. Employers' who do not understand the balance that has to be struck between the employee's right to freedom of religion and its workplace needs will often find themselves on the wrong side of our labour laws if they dismiss an employee without having due regard to the employee's religion. This is what transpired in TDF Network Africa (Pty) Ltd v Faris 2019 40 ILJ 326 (LAC). more...

This contribution gives an overview of the legal background and explanation of the right to physical integrity in article 11 of the Dutch Constitution, as well as soms more philosophical reflections of (the possible) development of this right.From the introduction: "Since 1983, the right to the inviolability of the body has been included in the Constitution. Subsequently, legislation has been enacted in many areas that flesh out this right, often restricting it. Measures in the areas of health care, welfare justice and public order. The fundamental right (rightly) received a lot ofpolitical and social attention during, for example, the debates surrounding the introduction of the new decision system for post-mortem organ donation in 2020 and around the exploration of the need and possibilities of a vaccination requirement in the context of the coronapandemic.Organ donation and vaccination, like many other practices, are made possible through profound technological developments. Since 1983 taken place in abundance, at an increasingly rapid pace. New techniques make it possible to grow (parts of) the human body and to share, preserve, donate, reuse, edit, print and exploit and terminate its functioning. Technologies intervene on each other, making humans in their essence subject to change and may be subject to ever-increasing changes. Moreover, this development also takes place in the opposite direction, in insofar as technological devices take on increasingly human traits. Modelling, normalisation and standardisation of people can be at at odds with human dignity, free will formation and thus ultimately democracy. Particularly in these times, the right to the inviolability of the body therefore has meaning and urgency." more...

This article argues that while they are often conflated, the right to freedom of religion and the right against religious discrimination are in fact distinct human rights. Religious freedom is best understood as protecting our interest in religious adherence (and non-adherence), understood from the committed perspective of the (non)adherent. This internal, committed perspective generates a capacious and realistic conception of religious adherence, which reflects the staggering plurality of forms of religiosity (or lack thereof) as extant in contemporary societies. The right against religious discrimination is best understood as protecting our non-committal interest in the unsaddled membership of our religious group. Thus understood, the two rights have distinct normative rationales. Religious freedom is justified by the need to respect our decisional autonomy in matters of religious adherence. The prohibition on religious discrimination is justified by the need to reduce any significant (political, sociocultural, or material) advantage gaps between different religious groups. These differences reveal a complex map of two overlapping, but conceptually distinct, human rights which are not necessarily breached simultaneously. more...

The purpose of this study was to examine the celebrations of non-Muslims, namely the Pongal Festival for Hindus and the Chinese New Year for the Chinese community, on whether the Pongal Festival and Chinese New Year are customary or religious festivals and to propose interfaith dialogue as the solution to ensure religious tolerance among the people. This phenomenon highlights the importance of interfaith dialogue to achieve inter-religious tolerance especially for Malaysia consists various races and religions. This literature review study using qualitative method concluded that the Pongal Festival celebrated by Hindus is religious in nature due to the element of worship to the Gods. Meanwhile, Chinese New Year consists of celebrations which can be classified as customary or cultural celebrations. According to the syara’, any act of tasyabbuh in akidah and belief is strictly prohibited. Though the aspect of tasyabbuh needs to be looked further in detail especially in the context of Malaysia as pluralistic-society country. Therefore, inter-religious dialogue, a consensus within the framework of a plural society can be created in a harmonious environment by taking into account the spirit of the Malaysian constitution which celebrates freedom of religion and by considering Islam as the religion of the federation. more...

İstibdat ve sansür uygulamasının kalktığı II. Meşrutiyet’in ilk dönemlerinde yaşanan basın hürriyeti birçok süreli yayının ortaya çıkmasına vesile olmuştur. Bektaşi Babası olan Hacıbeyzâde Ahmed Muhtar (Yeğtaş)’ın sahibi ve başyazarı olduğu Muhibbân dergisi de 4 Eylül 1909 tarihinde yayın hayatına başlayan İstanbul merkezli dini, edebi, içtimai, tasavvufi dergilerden birisidir. Bu makalede Alevi ve Bektaşi geleneğin ortaya çıkardığı bir dergi olarak Muhibbân’ın üç yayım döneminde neşredilen 26 sayısı incelenmiş, derginin II. Meşrutiyet dönemi sosyal hayatına bakan yönü ve sosyal hadiselere yaklaşımı tespit edilmek istenmiştir. Çalışmada Muhibbân dergisinin Bektaşiliğin faydasını gözeten, etnik ve mezhepsel farklılıkları kucaklayan, hoşgörülü bir üslupla yayımlar yaptığı, bu yayımlarda dönemin sosyal hadiselerine de yer verdiği görülmektedir. Tekke ve tarikatlara dair haberler kadar Osmanlı toplumunda vuku bulan düğün, cenaze, yangın, grev gibi olayların Muhibbân’da yer alması, onun tasavvufi yönü kadar güncelliğini de göstermektedir. Osmanlı coğrafyası dışında yaşanan olaylara da ilgisiz kalmayan Muhibbân dergisi, bu hadiselere Müslümanlık, tarikat, din ve ibadet özgürlüğü çerçevesinde yaklaşmaktadır. Muhibbân’ın yazılarında dönemin gazetecilik anlayışına uygun şekilde açık, sade, anlaşılır bir Türkçe kullandığı görülmektedir. Meşruti yönetim destekçisi olarak yazılarında II. Abdülhamid ve dönemini yer yer sert bir biçimde eleştiren Muhibbân, vuku bulan toplumsal ve sosyal hadiselerle ilgili problemlerin Meşrutiyete yakışır şekilde hukuk ve adalet temelinde çözüme kavuşturulması gerektiğini düşünmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: II. Meşrutiyet Dönemi, Muhibbân, Alevi ve Bektaşi, Sosyal Hadiseler, Hacıbeyzâde Ahmed Muhtar. more...

In order to protect the equal right to freedom of thought, belief and religion of all students in all public schools in Indonesia; in February 2021, the central government represented by three ministers, namely Minister of Education and Culture, Home Affairs Minister, and Religious Affairs Minister issued Joint Ministerial Decree (SKB) on the Use of Uniforms and Attributes for Students, Educators, and Education Personnel in state schools at the primary and secondary level .On 3 May 2021, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia revoked it. The purpose of this paper is to state a universal Christian ethical attitude in the midst of national and state life which is based on Pancasila and Bhineka Tunggal Ika (“Unity in Diversity”), especially in response to the revocation of the 3 Ministerial Decree that used to guarantee and protect religious freedom in state schools. The method used in this paper is phenomenological-qualitative research. The result is hoped to become a consideration for the central government and every child of the nation in general, and especially for followers of the Lord Jesus Christ in the land of Pancasila, Indonesia. Keywords : freedom of religion, Christian ethics, universal Abstrak Demi menjaga kebebasan dalam mengekspresikan keyakinan yang dianut semua siswa di semua sekolah negeri di Indonesia, maka pemerintah pusat yang diwakili tiga Menteri yaitu Menteri Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, Menteri Dalam Negeri, dan Menteri Agama mengeluarkan Surat Keputusan Bersama (SKB). Penggunaan Pakaian Seragam dan Atribut bagi Peserta Didik, Pendidik, dan Tenaga Kependidikan di Lingkungan Sekolah yang diselenggarakan Pemda pada Jenjang Pendidikan Dasar dan Menengah pada bulan Februari 2021. Namun SKB tiga Menteri tersebut terkesan mengekang dan membatasi tradisi atau budaya masyarakat yang sudah lama ada di daerah di Indonesia. Pada tanggal 3 Mei 2021, Mahkamah Agung Republik Indonesia mencabut SKB 3 Menteri tersebut. Tujuan dari makalah ini adalah untuk menyatakan sikap etis Kristen di tengah-tengah kehidupan berbangsa dan bernegara yang berdasarkan Pancasila dan Bhineka Tunggal Ika dalam menyikapi ketiadaan SKB 3 Menteri yang menjamin dan melindungi kebebasan beragama di lingkungan sekolah negeri. Metode yang digunakan di dalam makalah ini adalah metode penelitian fenomenologi-kualitatif. Hasilnya diharapkan menjadi pertimbangan bagi pemerintah pusat dan setiap anak bangsa pada umumnya serta khususnya bagi pengikut Tuhan Yesus Kristus di bumi Pancasila, Indonesia. Kata Kunci: Kebebasan Beragama, Etika Kristen more...

While it is true that more often than not, constitutional democracies might enshrine freedom of religion and thus provide for equal treatment of all religions within a given state, the Islamic characterization of the waqf institution transcends the subsisting limits allowed for in the not-for profit legal infrastructure including their taxation exemption provisions in the Nigerian state. According to modest statistics, Nigeria is home to about 100 million Muslims but her governing laws are at best described as secular. The objective of this research is therefore to harmonize the Islamic law of waqf institution and the extant not-for-profit laws in Nigeria such that the institution can function within the Nigerian state without infringing on the Islamic Shariah whilst at the same time complying with the constitutional dictates of the country. The merits of such an exercise are numerous. It could readily be replicated in other non-Muslim jurisdiction across the world. Nigeria being the largest economy in Africa, the dividends of such an exercise would cascade across the continent consisting mainly so called developing countries. more...

The Terrorism Act 2000 recognises that religion may be a force for bad in its definition of ‘terrorism’: ‘The use or threat of action … designed to influence a government or to intimidate the public or a section of the public … for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.’ ‘Radicalisation’ is the process by which an individual becomes involved in terrorism, and it is the statutory Prevent Duty, introduced under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, that is the UK's current means of tackling radicalisation. Under the duty, specified authorities (such as schools, police, etc) must have due regard to preventing people from being ‘drawn into terrorism’. This article addresses an often-neglected area in the ongoing legal debate surrounding the statutory Prevent Duty: the religious dimension. It suggests that religion is at the centre of the Prevent Duty and that the formulation of the duty was stimulated by religion – namely, Islamist extremism and radicalisation. It will discuss the ways in which the Prevent Duty can be criticised; that it has an impact on human rights that it is potentially discriminatory towards Muslims; and that it does not clearly distinguish between permissible radical religion and impermissible harmful religion. The article concludes by suggesting that religion plays an important part in the understanding of extremism and radicalisation. more...

The 2020-21 Covid 19 Pandemic has raised many legal challenges as governments world-wide have struggled to deal with the public health and safety challenges of Covid. At the center of many of these decisions is the need to balance public health protections against other rights that have been infringed by legislation related to Covid Pandemic restrictions. One of the most important rights that have been implicated by Covid restrictions in the United States has been in the area of restrictions on religious worship which implicates the right to freedom of religion as enshrined in the United States Constitution. During the time of the Pandemic the United States Supreme Court, as the final arbiter of the United States Constitution has had to work to balance the interests of the government in protecting public health and safety with the right to freedom of religion. The Supreme Court’s approach to these cases reflects the difficulties inherent in balancing two such important interests in difficult circumstances and also represents the reality of the shifting majority in the Court as a result of new Justices appointed under the administration of Donald Trump. The Court has transitioned from a majority that opposed restrictions on governmental action during COVID to a majority that is more willing to stop governmental action that is deemed to be in violation of the Free Exercise of Religion Clause of the First Amendment. more...

Freedom of religion or belief is an essential right for building pluralistic and tolerant societies which can sustain a multiplicity of competing ideas. However, the opaqueness of artificial intell... more...

In the last decade, freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) emerged as part of the European Union’s (EU) agenda in two ways: first, through attempts of its institutionalisation as a full-fledged diplo... more...

Indonesia is one of the countries that uphold human rights International one of the examples is the freedom of religion or embrace religion. It is proven by the inclusion of one of the international human rights values ​​into our constitution namely article 28 I paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution. As a sovereign country, Indonesia is obliged to protect the right of its citizens to embrace the religion or belief adopted without any compulsion from any party. Every citizen has the freedom to determine his or her faith or belief according to the mind and conscience of each. So Human Rights are rights that protect us to live together in society without any disturbance. The right to freedom of religion becomes important issue. This study aims to analyze and describe the freedom of religious act in Indonesia and Malaysia in the perspective of human rights. more...

Habermas coined the term post-secularism to reflect a time period in which religions are given a more central part in social and political life. Even if there is more openness to religion, many religious groups would claim that Western societies are nevertheless still dominated by secularism and want to ensure that freedom of religion and belief remain protected and promoted. This article explores the recent Australian Religious Freedom Review as a case study of the social tension between freedom for and from religion to argue that we might have moved beyond a post-secular sphere in this country. In this phase, what is meant by freedom of religion has shifted from a focus in having all religious groups being able to freely practice their faith to a focus by some mainstream religions to remain free to discriminate on the basis of their faith. more...

Article 13 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) explicitly provides for animal welfare. Animals are sentient beings, and thus the EU and Member States have an obligation to take animal welfare into consideration. At the same time, Article 10(1) of the Charter guarantees freedom of religion. Case C-336/19 Centraal Israëlitisch Consistorie van België dealt with the balance between animal welfare and freedom of religion. Regulation 1099/2009 stipulates that animals must be protected at the time of killing and established the principle of prior stunning in slaughter. Ritual slaughter based on religion is accepted as a derogation of this principle. In the Centraal case, which is pivotal in the context of ritual slaughter, the opinion of Advocate General Hogan and the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union were divided over the interpretation of the contested regulation. Ultimately, the Court demonstrated a definite preference for animal welfare over freedom of religion. In so doing, the Court attached a high value to national legislative competence and in paying attention to changes in society to ensure that citizens are increasingly aware of animal welfare. more...

The article analyzes the development of scientific thought on the administrative and legal support of relations between the state and the church, as well as reveals the current state of national administrative legislation in the field of religion. It has been established that in the doctrine of administrative law studies of administrative and legal support of relations between the state and the church are of a fragmentary nature. This has a negative impact on the administrative and legal regulation of public relations in the sphere of religion, on the effectiveness of public government bodies implementing state policy in the sphere of religion, and on the state of protection of believers in Ukraine. It is concluded that the state of scientific substantiation of administrative and legal support of the constitutional principles of relations between the state and the church remains unsatisfactory in Ukraine. It is substantiated that in modern conditions of society development, the church, despite all the restrictions enshrined in the constitutional principles of relations between the state and the church, is an active participant in administrative relations. However, the imperfection of the existing mechanisms for the implementation of the right to freedom of religion and the constitutional principles of state-church relations, as well as gaps in the current administrative legislation sometimes lead to the fact that in practice these constitutional provisions are either not implemented in practice or implemented in full or in part, which, in its turn leads to tensions in society over freedom of religion and the activities of religious organizations. more...

The article illustrates the capacity of Islam to solve the social problem of religious education in multicultural societies. A qualitative method has been adopted. The main result of the study is that in societies where people of different religions live. Islam, based on its beliefs, accepts multi-religious education that is to educate all religion’s teachings. This side of Islamic heritage solves the social problem that comes from teaching a particular religion in such societies. The study displays that the pluralistic religious education, cannot solve these problems. The study concludes that Islam has an active and constructive approach to other cultures and religions in the field of education that is based on freedom of religion and educational justice. It also suggests that some practical researches should be done to explore the benefits of this Islamic solution in Malaysian society as a multicultural society. more...

The present study look at religious diversity and the role it plays in a school in India. The Constitution of India under Article 25-28 protects the freedom of religion in the country. The secular ideals are the core guiding principles of the society which were incorporated by the 42nd Amendment to the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. Therefore, the study tries to look at religious practices, attitudes, values and beliefs in the school to understand religious diversity. It also tries to understand the views of parents, teachers, and students to contextualize the school ethos, culture and schooling process. To comprehend the secular outlook and its role as envisaged in the Constitution of our country. The present study is a qualitative case study which was conducted in a public school by using observation and interviews with 30 students and 10 teachers of the school from classes VI-VIII each, apart from 10 interviews with parents. There is an indication, that there is a secular ethos in the school, however there are few occurrences of segregation, but on the whole there is inclusion. The policies, practices in the school reflect resilience and tolerance, characterized by value education more...

When examining the cases on freedom of religion in the field of education, the European Court of Human Rights increasingly adopts the conception of hard or republican secularism. This approach has far-reaching implications for the Court’s understanding of social integration as a legitimate ground for the restriction on individual’s freedom. The judgement in Osmanoğlu and Kocabaş v. Switzerland and the cases on wearing of religious attire at school demonstrate that despite its claim to neutrality, the republican conception of secularism has its inherent presuppositions about what society should look like and which values such a society should embrace. In consequence, the application of this conception results in standardisation and homogenisation of the society according to secular and thus non-neutral ethos. This outcome is difficult to reconcile not only with equal respect for individual freedom of religion and moral autonomy, but also with general principles underlying its axiological structure, such as pluralism, tolerance, and broadmindedness. more...

O presente texto tem como essência o debate da questão da liberdade religiosa no âmbito do direito internacional contemporâneo. Logo, apresenta como problema central a violação de direitos humanos e a discriminação de minorias religiosas levada a cabo em Estados onde estão inseridas tais minorias, especialmente a islâmica. Logo, considerando a discriminação e a crescente intolerância para com os muçulmanos na atualidade, busca-se verificar se a liberdade religiosa é, de fato, um direito humano a ser garantido ao indivíduo e como esse problema poderia ser contornado de modo a garantir a plena liberdade de religião aos muçulmanos, o que seria possível através do multiculturalismo, notadamente por ele valorizar a diversidade cultural e fomentar o diálogo intercultural, colaborando para a diminuição da intolerância. Quanto aos aspectos metodológicos, ressalta-se a realização de uma pesquisa de natureza aplicada na área das Ciências Jurídicas e Sociais, onde os objetivos são explorados a partir do método dedutivo, de maneira descritiva e explicativa, baseando-se eminentemente em textos bibliográficos e documentais more...

This article aims to describe caused the restriction of religion and belief freedom and its implications in Indonesia. The author’s argument on the ownership that limitation of the religion and belief freedom in Indonesia which have mainstreams about religious values and blasphemy. It causes diversity in Indonesia to limited pluralism experience. With the perspective of pluralism, limiting the religion and belief freedom is carried out by the state makes ancestral religions which is not declared as official religions. Apart from making the state that recognizes only six religions, this statement contradicts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant. By using the literature review method, this article finds that the religion and belief freedom in Indonesia experiences delimited pluralism so this condition brings to negotiated on ancestral religions and intolerance to minority groups. Keywords: Freedom of Religion and Belief; Religious Value; Delimited Pluralism; Discrimination; Intolerance. more...