Recognizing Religious Minority Rights

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugenia Relaño Pastor
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Group Rights ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) does not contain any provision on minorities, and neither has the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) considered the notion of minority rights when dealing with claims involving religious minorities. This contribution aims to show how the Court addresses the rights of religious minorities through the concepts of ‘religious diversity’ and ‘pluralism’. In order to overcome the historical tension between individual rights versus group rights, the author offers a theoretical typology on religious minority rights that combines rights- holders with individual and group interests and takes into consideration UN human rights texts on minorities and the freedom of religion, as well as the ECHR and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. By applying the three categories of the above- mentioned typology— individual differentiated rights to members of minorities, group- differentiated rights, and special interest group rights— to the Court’s jurisprudence on members of religious minorities and religious communities, the author concludes that while the ECtHR has systematically reiterated its commitment to pluralism, it has partly failed to grant protection to religious diversity, particularly, when ‘uncomfortable’ religious diversities are the stake.

scholarly journals On Aims, Means, and Unintended Consequences: The Case of Molla Sali

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 859
Author(s):  
Effie Fokas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Minority Community ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
Muslim Minority

This contribution speaks to this Special Issue’s guiding question of how the approach to freedom of religion and minority protection can be combined to foster the protection of religious communities and their members by examining a particular European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case that provokes a contrasting question: ‘What happens when provisions for religious minority protection lead to the violation rather than protection of members’ rights?’ That case is Molla Sali v. Greece (2018), in which the ECtHR addressed the claim of a member of a Muslim minority community whose membership in that community subjected her—involuntarily—to the authority of sharia law over inheritance matters. The case serves as a foundation from which to explore the ECtHR’s engagements with the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, an exploration which helps bring to the fore the problems around the concept of ‘voluntary’ opting into identification with a minority identity when the latter entails some form of disadvantage. Women, in particular, due to family and peer pressures, are vulnerable to such disadvantage in contexts such as that from which the case of Molla Sali arises. Thus, the case invites discussion of various ways in which individual and group rights may come into conflict and considers minority rights specifically in relation to other human rights.

scholarly journals The Contribution of the European Court of Human Rights to the Accommodation of Contemporary Religious Diversity

2017 ◽  
pp. 37-54
Author(s):  
Roberta Medda-Windischer
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Key Words ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
European Court

The present article analyzes how main issues and dilemmas that religious minorities and groups pose and face in contemporary societies in which, in the terms of the European Court of Human Rights, several religions coexist within one and the same population, have been or may be addressed through the lens of the European Convention on Human Rights. Key words: freedom of religion; religious diversity; religious minorities; accommodation; European Convention on Human Rights.Published online: 11 December 2017

scholarly journals PRINSIP ISLAM DALAM MELINDUNGI HAK MINORITAS

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-242
Author(s):  
Linda Novianti
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
The Creation

This study aims to encourage the creation of a sense of security and peace for religious minorities in carrying out their obligations as religious communities. This study shows that minority rights are one of the most difficult problems faced by Muslims in today's context. In fact, minority rights have been regulated in the Al-Quran and were directly practiced by the Prophet Muhammad when leading Medina and confirmed in the form of the constitution of Medina. This study uses a qualitative normative approach. The results of this study conclude that Islam as a religion that teaches its people that plurality and plurality are sunatullah which need not be questioned as long as they do not contradict the principles of faith and human rights. Then Islam observes that the protection of minority rights is the prevention of economic, social, cultural, political and legal discrimination with the aim of equalizing positions without imposing boundaries based on differences from one another.

scholarly journals Book Review: Author: Al Khanif; Title: Religious Minorities, Islam, and The Law: International Human Rights and Islamic Law in Indonesia; Publisher: Routledge, 2021

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 94
Author(s):  
Abubakar Eby Hara
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Islamic Law ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Review Author ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
International Human ◽  
Minority View ◽  
Secular State

This book examines religious minority rights in Islam in Indonesia from the international and local human rights perspectives. Its main contribution lies in the effort to find Indonesia's uniqueness in managing minority rights in religion. This study leads the author to a rich discussion of how international human rights through its activists spread the need for freedom of every citizen and how advocates of religious orthodoxy ​​respond to it. In contrast to analysts who use the dichotomous view of the acceptance or rejection of international human rights values, the author sees complexity in the process of spreading these values. It can be said that there is a process of modifying the values ​​of secularism in human rights and localization to make these values ​​an integral part of society. In this line of view, the author calls the Indonesian state a quasi-theistic secular state which means that Indonesia is a secular country but friendly and tries to guarantee freedom of religion and worship. In the case of minority rights in Islam, the state prioritizes harmony in society and supports the orthodox views of the majority. The minority view must be assimilated with the orthodox teachings of Islam to get a place to live. The quasi-theistic secular state continues to experience contestation and has undergone a long construction process based on the narration of the peaceful entry of Islam and the relatively moderate character of Indonesian Islam. At a certain level, this state concept has developed to be an identity and norms that become a reference for how to treat religious minorities. The author thus succeeded in showing that Indonesia is an example of a country that can develop its own identity and norms of religious life that are different from that of the Western secular state system.

Normative fault-lines of trans-national human rights jurisprudence: National pride and religious prejudice in the European legal space

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 469-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
DANIEL AUGENSTEIN
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Diversity ◽  
National Level ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
Legal Space ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe article explores the relationship between religious pluralism and national-majoritarian models of social cohesion in European human rights jurisprudence. Comparing the German, French and British interpretation of the ‘social cohesion limitation’ of freedom of religion it contends that, at the national level, concerns for social cohesion are fuelled by attitudes towards religious diversity that range from indifference to intolerance and that are difficult to reconcile with the normative premises of religious pluralism in a democratic society. The second section of the article traces the relationship between religious pluralism and social cohesion in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The analysis suggests that the diversity of national-majoritarian approaches to social cohesion in Europe prevents the Court from ensuring an effective trans-national protection of religious pluralism. The third section turns to the controversial Lautsi judgments of the European Court of Human Rights to place the Court’s approach to religious minority protection in the context of trans-national judicial politics in the European legal space. The concluding section suggests an alternative approach to religious pluralism and social cohesion that vindicates religious diversity and does justice to the counter-majoritarian telos of human rights protection.

scholarly journals Ideological conflicts in Slovenia over religious issues

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-93
Author(s):  
Sergej Flere
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Holy See ◽  
European Court

Since attaining independence, Latin pattern (Martin, 1978) disputes and conflicts have characterized the Slovenian political scene, particularly as to relations between the state and religious communities. Slovenia adopted a law on the issue only in 2006, availing itself of the law from the 1970s. The 2007 Religious Freedom Act contained many privileges for the dominant Roman Catholic Church, including those of a symbolic nature and those of an economic one. The Constitutional Court declared the Act unconstitutional and void, departing from the European Convention of Human Rights and the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Thus, it set other beliefs at the same level with religious ones, did away with many privileges and obstacles 81 in recognition and registration of new religious communities. However, this decision has legislatively been implemented only in a small portion, remaining to be fully implemented. However, the absence of substantive agreements with the Holy See and the absence of religious instruction in public schools indicate a predominance of liberalism on the public scene.

scholarly journals FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF NATIONAL MINORITY RIGHTS PROTECTION IN INTERNATIONAL LAW

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (20) ◽  
pp. 159-166
Author(s):  
V.O. Nahorna
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
League Of Nations ◽  
European Convention ◽  
National Minority ◽  
General Tendency ◽  
Universal System ◽  
National Minorities

The article focuses on the evolutionary development of international legal regulation in the field of protection of the national minority rights from the Westphalian system of international relations to the present. The aspiration of non-dominant groups to preserve their cultural, religious, or ethnic background was manifested simultaneously with the emergence of nation-states in the seventeenth century. However, since then, the international community has not reached a consensus on the content of the concept of minority: a unified approach to the issue has not been elaborated in either international legal acts, law doctrine, or judicial practice. At the universal level, the protection of minority rights in international law was institutionalized only during the functioning of the League of Nations. The established procedures for the implementation and control over the observance of minority rights within the League of Nations were elaborated in sufficient detail and provided for effective collective security measures to resolve international disputes and problems arising in connection with the protection of minority rights. Indeed, this system also had a number of significant shortcomings that were subsequently taken into account when establishing mechanisms for the protection of minority rights within the United Nations. In reviewing international legal acts after 1945, the following general tendency should be emphasized. It concerns the adoption of a large array of documents in this field, most of which are advisory and general in nature. This is explained by the fact that minority issues are a sensitive area of public relations, and states are reluctant to make this sphere regulated by international law. The Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (1995) became the first legally binding legislative act on the protection of minorities in general, and this fact makes it fundamentally important. The absence of the norms directly aimed at the protection of national minorities in the catalog of rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights (1950) cannot but affects the efficient application of the mechanism of the European Court by national minorities. However, the link between human rights violations and minority rights allows the latter to fight for the restoration of individual human rights protected by the European Convention, which undoubtedly plays a positive role in the context of the protection of collective minority rights. Keywords: national minorities, periodization, universal system for the protection of human rights, Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, ECHR.

scholarly journals The Right to a Name Versus National Identity in the Context of eu Law: The Case of Lithuania

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 325-363
Author(s):  
Aistė Mickonytė
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
National Identity ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Member States ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Right

This article examines national regulations relating to the recognition of names in official documents by focusing on Article 21 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, having particular regard to the judgment of the European Court of Justice in the case of Runevič-Vardyn and Wardyn. It also assesses the potential impact that this and other cases before the ecj and the European Court of Human Rights may exert on national minorities. The recognition of names is not regulated in European Union law; thus, the eu member states may freely determine the usage of names in official documents, as the state language represents a constitutional value and part of the national identity of many eu member states. Therefore, only regulation of names that causes excessive interference with the exercise of freedom of movement or respect for private and family life is unlawful under eu law. This issue will also be discussed in light of Article 4(2) of the Treaty on the European Union, by which the ecj assesses these types of interference with the eu’s duty to respect the national identities of its member states.

scholarly journals The Siren’s Call? Exploring the Implications of an Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights on National Minorities

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie E. Berry
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Advisory Committee ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Wide Margin ◽  
Additional Protocol ◽  
National Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
Margin Of Appreciation

Calls for the adoption of an Additional Protocol to the European Convention on Human Rights (echr) on National Minorities have persisted within the Council of Europe despite the adoption of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (fcnm). This article explores the potential implications of the adoption of an Additional Protocol on National Minorities to the echr for the fcnm. The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) already has several tools that would allow it to extend protection to persons belonging to national minorities. However, as the ECtHR tends to allow States a wide margin of appreciation in cases concerning persons belonging to minorities, it is argued that the adoption of an Additional Protocol on National Minorities may not be desirable, as it has the potential to undermine the progress made by the Framework Convention Advisory Committee.

scholarly journals How to Strengthen Protection of (Religious) Minorities and Cultural Diversity under EU Law: Some Lessons from Human Rights Protection System

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 864
Author(s):  
Marcella Ferri
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
Minority Protection ◽  
Human Rights Protection ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Face ◽  
Religious Clothing

The paper is split into two parts. The first part starts with the analysis of Views adopted by the UN Human Rights Committee on Yaker and Hebbadi v. France cases concerning the French Act prohibiting the concealment of the face in public. These Views are then compared with the judgment S.A.S. v. France delivered by the European Court of Human Rights on a similar case. This comparison shows that the principle of non-discrimination and, in this vein, intersectional discrimination play a critical role in assuring the effective protection of Muslim women wearing religious clothing. Analysis of S.A.S. is completed by highlighting the most relevant weaknesses of religious minority protection in the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights. Some references are also made to freedom of religious clothing in the workplace, underling the critical role that can be played in this regard by the duty of reasonable accommodation. The second part identifies the most significant shortcomings characterizing the protection of religious minorities under European Union law. In conclusion, this paper tries to highlight which lessons can be learnt from the human rights system—examined in the first part—in order to strengthen minority protection in the EU.

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