scholarly journals The European Court of Human Rights in National Struggles around Religion and Education

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (S1) ◽  
pp. S134-S150
Author(s):  
Dia Anagnostou ◽  
Liviu Andreescu
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
European Court

AbstractThis paper analyzes comparatively the indirect effects of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) judgments related to religion and education in four countries: Greece, Italy, Romania, and Turkey. It examines whether and how ECtHR jurisprudence on religion and education influences the views and the strategies deployed by various categories of actors. Do religious, secularist, minority, and other actors invoke these judgments and their normative principles in their discourse and mobilization strategies to promote religious pluralism or conversely religious values, in education? How are the norms that are enunciated in these judgments perceived by a diverse array of nationally situated actors who mobilize in this domain?

Religious Pluralism and State- Centric Legal Spaces in Europe

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-54
Author(s):  
Kyriaki Topidi
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Legal Pluralism ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
European Court ◽  
Starting Point

Multiculturalism is continuously and relentlessly put to the test in the so- called West. The question as to whether religious or custom- based legal orders can or should be tolerated by liberal and democratic states is, however, by no means a new challenge. The present article uses as its starting point the case of religious legal pluralism in Greece, as exposed in recent European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case- law, in an attempt to explore the gaps and implications in the officially limited use of sharia in Western legal systems. More specifically, the discussion is linked to the findings of the ECtHR on the occasion of the recent Molla Sali v. Greece case to highlight and question how sharia has been evolving in the European legal landscape.

scholarly journals The legal status of religious minorities: Exploring the impact of the European Court of Human Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Effie Fokas
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Legal Reform ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Religious Minorities ◽  
European Court ◽  
Grassroots Level ◽  
The Impact

In the last 25 years the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has evolved into a venue where some of the most contentious questions related to religion in European society are addressed. This article focuses on the grassroots level impact of the ECtHR in the domain of legal status of religious minorities. In light of scholarly debates questioning the direct effects of courts on the issues they address (i.e., legal reform and policy change), the research on which this article is based explores the nature and extent of the Court’s indirect effects on the legal status of religious minorities: how and to what extent does the ECtHR impact upon religious minorities in terms of their conceptions of, discourse around, and mobilisations pursuing their legal status-related rights? This question is addressed through results of empirical qualitative research conducted at the grassroots level in four country cases – Greece, Italy, Romania and Turkey.

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.

Pluralism, Secularism and The European Court of Human Rights

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 261-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary R. Calo
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Freedom ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Majority Opinion ◽  
Jehovah's Witness ◽  
The Core ◽  
Article 9 ◽  
European Court ◽  
Core Principle

The Article 9 religious freedom jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights most basically concerns the question of religious pluralism. The “principle of pluralism seems to be the main—the core—principle” guiding the Court's religious freedom jurisprudence, argues one of the Court's judges. Assessing the Court's work in the area of religious freedom therefore requires considering its treatment of pluralism, which is the concept most often employed to interpret Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The Court's approach to religious pluralism is still heavily indebted to the decision inKokkinakis v. Greece, a 1993 case involving a Jehovah's Witness who had been repeatedly arrested and jailed for violating Greece's prohibition on proselytism. In the majority opinion finding that Mr. Kokkinakis's Article 9 rights had been violated, the Court writes the following:

Divergent Trends in Legal Recognition of Religious Entities in Europe: The Cases of Slovenia and Hungary

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 286-304
Author(s):  
Miran Lavrič ◽  
Sergej Flere
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Countries ◽  
European Convention ◽  
The Political ◽  
Council Of Europe ◽  
Legal Recognition ◽  
Political Situation ◽  
European Court

AbstractReligious dynamics in Europe, especially regarding religious pluralism, are largely affected by the characteristics of legal recognition of religious entities in individual countries. The implementation of the European Convention of Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights clearly points to democratic pluralism as the essential principle in treating religious entities by the state. On the other hand, the situation in European countries is very complex and certain tendencies opposite to the European Convention of Human Rights directions, particularly in terms of privileging of traditional entities, are still deeply entrenched. Recent changes in Slovenia, where two essentially parody religions have been registered, and in Hungary, where registration and recognition of previously registered churches have been annulled, are considered. It is argued that the implementation of the liberal course set by the Council of Europe is (still) largely dependent on the political situation in individual countries.

scholarly journals Jehovah’s Witnesses as Extremists: The Russian State, Religious Pluralism, and Human Rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-157
Author(s):  
Zoe Knox
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Test Case ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Religious Minority ◽  
Jehovah’S Witnesses ◽  
Jehovah's Witnesses ◽  
European Court ◽  
Human Rights Norms

This article examines the Russian Supreme Court’s 2017 decision to ban Jehovah’s Witnesses as “extremists.” The decision will bring Russia’s anti-extremism law before the Council of Europe via the European Court of Human Rights. The article considers why this particular religious minority group became a test case by examining the unique beliefs and practices of Witnesses and their history of episodic conflict with the state. It also highlights the role of the Orthodox Church in shaping attitudes, popular and political, toward religious pluralism in Russia. In the Putin era, an increasingly illiberal rhetoric about totalitarian cults and traditional values connected nontraditional faiths to national security threats, a link made clear in the Putin regime’s promotion of spiritual security. Overall, the article argues that the 2017 ban signals the repudiation of European human rights norms by Russian governmental authorities, lawmakers, and religious elites.

scholarly journals Limitations to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Indonesia: Norms and Practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 39-56
Author(s):  
Zainal Abidin Bagir ◽  
Renata Arianingtyas ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Striking Feature ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Public Order ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
International Human ◽  
The Government

Abstract The landscape of freedom of religion or belief (FoRB) in Indonesia has been shaped by two elements: first, the progressive adoption of human rights in the new laws and amended constitution, as a result of the democratization which started in 1998; second, the old governance of religion which acknowledges limited religious pluralism and emphasizes harmony over freedom. A striking feature resulting from this combination is the addition of “religious values” as a ground of FoRB limitation in the new chapter on human rights in the amended Constitution, which otherwise draws its inspiration from the ICCPR and other international human rights covenants. Indonesian “public order” and “public morals” are understood to consist of, among other things, respect and protection of religious values. While the emphasis on religious values and public order produces most restrictions, when it comes to limitations to FoRB on grounds of public health, the government seems reluctant to impose necessary restrictions.

The Expression of Religious Beliefs: In the Name of Pluralism, although Not Quite Religious

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 153-163
Author(s):  
Agnés Callamard
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
European Court ◽  
Democratic Principles ◽  
Main Ideas

Abstract The 25 years’ jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights on the intersection between expression and religion reveals that three main ideas of religion have coexisted alongside each other, for many decades predating the current era. The jurisprudence also shows that the Court somehow accommodated (and justified) these different ideas through a focus on democratic pluralism (not religious pluralism), a conception of pluralism which makes religion (including in its diverse expressions) subservient to democratic principles.

scholarly journals Religion and Education in the Shadow of the European Court of Human Rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (S1) ◽  
pp. S1-S8
Author(s):  
Effie Fokas
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Indirect Effects ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Social Actors ◽  
European Court ◽  
Public Consciousness ◽  
Grassroots Level ◽  
Critical Insight ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

AbstractThis article presents a symposium on the “indirect effects” of the European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on the place of religion in the educational sphere. The symposium showcases empirical research providing critical insight into how the Court's decisions may influence related domestic debates, raise public consciousness, and change how social actors perceive their rights and articulate their right claims in the area of religion and education. The research underpinning this symposium represents a clear departure from existing scholarship in this domain: it examines the impact of the Court not from the top-down (Court impact on states and their legislative frameworks) but from grassroots level upwards, in seeking to understand whether, how and to what extent Court decisions influence grassroots level actors' conceptions of their rights in the domain of religion and education and their efforts to secure new rights vis-à-vis their states.

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