Religious Pluralism and Human Rights in Europe: Where to Draw the Line? Religion, Secular Beliefs and Human Rights, 25 Years After the 1981 Declaration

2008 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 539-544
Author(s):  
Nazila Ghanea
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Freedom Of Association ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
The Social ◽  
Vexing Question ◽  
Do So

AbstractThese two books address the vexing question of human rights and freedom of religion or belief essentially in two different contexts and from two different perspectives: the European and the international. They do so in a broad manner, addressing the social, political, legal and policy implications of religion at large as well as freedom of religion or belief itself. From an overview of both, it can be seen that neither minority rights, cultural rights, freedom of expression nor freedom of association compensate the absence of freedom of religion or belief in human rights terms.

Part 5 Cross-Cutting Issues, 5.2 Limitations

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bielefeldt Heiner, Prof ◽  
Ghanea Nazila, Dr ◽  
Wiener Michael, Dr
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
National Security ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Fair Trial ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Freedom Of Association

This chapter discusses issues concerning the limitation of freedom of religion or belief, including related issues of interpretation. First, religious manifestation is different from holding, adopting, or changing religion or belief in that the latter is not subject to any limitation whatsoever. Second, national security is mentioned as a limitations ground in articles 12 (liberty of movement), 13 (expulsion), 14 (fair trial), 19 (freedom of expression), 21 (peaceful assembly), and 22 (freedom of association), but not in article 18 of the ICCPR. Third, traditions and limitations intersect in two ways; a single tradition cannot determine limitation on the grounds of morals, and limitations should not target a single tradition. Lastly, the exercise of assessing ‘necessity’ and ‘proportionality’ should not sideline the importance of upholding the protection of the relevant human rights. International procedures should only limit freedom of religion or belief in accordance with a strict understanding of the rights and limitation regime concerned, and with detailed justification of the rationale for their decision making in the compromise that is proposed.

Fundamental freedoms

2021 ◽  
pp. 191-262
Author(s):  
William A. Schabas
Keyword(s):  
Family Life ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Minority Rights ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Political Democracy ◽  
Freedom Of Association ◽  
Fundamental Freedoms ◽  
Family Mobility ◽  
The Right

Fundamental freedoms is an allusion to Roosevelt’s ‘four freedoms’, although they now tend to be associated with those that fall under civil and political rights: freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of peaceful assembly, and freedom of association. They have a degree of relativity, being subject to restrictions or limitations dictated by certain criteria including public morals and the rights of others. They have important links to political democracy, the rights of labour and trade unions, and minority rights. Other rights that may be labelled ‘fundamental freedoms’ are the right to private and family life, the right to marry and to found a family, mobility rights, nationality and the right to property.

7. Freedom of religion and expression

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernadette Rainey
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Hate Speech ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
European Convention ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Essential Information ◽  
European Court ◽  
State Restriction ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Right

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on freedom of religion and freedom of expression, which are classified as qualified rights, and examines Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which explains the right to hold or not hold a belief as well as the right to manifest a belief. It also considers how the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) decides if there has been manifestation of belief, interpretation of Article 10 with respect to views that shock and disturb and some forms of hate speech, and state restriction of expression. The chapter concludes with a discussion of freedom of religion and expression in the UK.

scholarly journals International Human Rights Law and the Response to the covid-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 249-269
Author(s):  
Sarah Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Human Rights Treaties ◽  
International Human ◽  
Civil And Political Rights ◽  
Do So

Abstract States have duties under Article 12(2)(c) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to prevent, control and treat covid-19. Implementation of these three obligations is analysed, taking account of countervailing human rights considerations. Regarding prevention, lockdowns designed to stop the spread of the virus are examined. Control measures are then discussed, namely transparency measures, quarantine, testing and tracing. The human rights compatibility of treatment measures, namely the provision of adequate medical and hospital care (or the failure to do so), are then examined. Finally, derogations from human rights treaties in times of pubic emergency are discussed.

Reflections on Human Rights: An Eastern European Perspective

1989 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-33
Author(s):  
Tamäs Földesi
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
State Theory ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
European Perspective ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Social ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Do So

To create a state-theory that can answer the social problems of today, to break away from the theses that merely interpret the classics – as the sciences dealing with the economy managed to do during the past 15–20 years – is the main task of social sciences dealing with the theoretical issues of the state these days. If they fail to do so, their work will be forced to the periphery of the social movements, will not be able to assist the processes of society. It is my conviction that this is a vast responsibility of the social sciences in our age.

Human Rights and Information Technologies

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Sartor
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Information Technologies ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fundamental Values

The social changes brought about by the deployment of information technologies are wide-ranging and fundamental. A human rights analysis of such technologically driven changes shows how they implicate significant opportunities as well as risks. The chapter argues that human rights are a core aspect of regulating such technologies, particularly as human rights provide a unifying purposive perspective for diverse technologies and deployment contexts. To this end, the chapter examines how the opportunities and risks of information technologies affect and relate to the fundamental values of freedom, dignity, and equality, as well as specific human rights, such as privacy or freedom of expression.

Freedom of Religion and the Legal Status of Churches: A Case Study from the Serbian Constitutional Court

2020 ◽  
Vol 56 ◽  
pp. 487-507
Author(s):  
Tijana Surlan
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Canon Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Freedom Of Religion ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Freedom Of Association ◽  
European Court ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Republic

This article offers a short study of the conjugation of freedom of religion, freedom of association and the legal status of religions and churches. Human rights are elaborated as defined in international human rights law, accentuated by the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. A compliance case that came before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia provides a national jurisprudential example useful for the analysis of relations between human rights and the legal status of a church. Analysis of the law is both horizontal and vertical: a description of norms is intertwined with a discussion of principles of identity and equality. The article explores whether the principles of human rights and freedoms and the norms regulating the legal status of a church are consistent with each other; whether these principles are independent and how their mutual relationship influences the application and interpretation of the law; and whether the norms prescribed by international law or in national jurisprudence can be applied independently of canon law, or whether application of the law has to take into account specific religious jurisdictions and relations between churches which are rooted in their autonomous canon law.

scholarly journals Multiculturalism, Identity Claims, and Human Rights: From Politics to Courts

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 367-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neus Torbisco-Casals
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Political Rhetoric ◽  
Freedom Of Association ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
European Court ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Ethnicity And Gender ◽  
Political Backlash

Abstract Across Europe, courts (both domestic and international) are increasingly playing a central role in dealing with identity-driven conflicts across deeply entrenched ethnocultural divides. At the outset, many of these controversies are seemingly religious or cultural disputes, involving the interpretation of individual rights such as freedom of conscience, freedom of association, and freedom of religion. Yet if we scratch beyond the surface, there is much more at stake in these disputes, or so this paper contends. Broader disagreements that confront majority and minority cultures regarding group rights and the shifting intersections between religion, ethnicity, and gender are played out in these judicial battles. The paper traces the so-called “crisis of multiculturalism” in the European political rhetoric and practice and highlights its impact on the de-juridification of cultural rights and on the tendency to seek accommodation through litigation (typically by minority litigants increasingly frustrated with the political backlash against their rights). It then inquires into the prospects of this strategy, pointing out the limitations courts face when adjudicating identity conflicts pertaining to minority groups traditionally disadvantaged in mainstream political processes. These concerns are illustrated through revisiting a number of controversies over Muslim veils that have been resolved by the European Court of Human Rights. The paper cautiously concludes that a shift toward more participatory political processes is more likely to mitigate the decline of progressive forms of multiculturalism and consolidate minority rights.

scholarly journals Securing the Future of Copyright Users’ Rights in Canada

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 ◽  
pp. 11-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saleh Al-Sharieh
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Public Interest ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
Supreme Court Of Canada ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Political Rights ◽  
Cultural Rights ◽  
Exceptions And Limitations ◽  
Human Rights Based Approach

The Copyright Act includes a set of copyright infringement exceptions that permit the unauthorized use of copyrighted works in order to serve public interest objectives. The Supreme Court of Canada liberally interpreted these exceptions as “users’ rights” by relying on the purpose of the Act, understood as a balance between the authors’ right to be rewarded for their works and the public interest in the dissemination and use of works. The utility of copyright balance to safeguard users’ rights is uncertain. The Act does not explicitly adopt “balance” as a purpose. National and international copyright law traditionally recognize the users’ side in the copyright law balance in copyright exceptions and limitations. And, in copyright law discourse, different stakeholders propose and defend conflicting forms of balance. Therefore, the paper argues that a human rights-based approach to copyright exceptions is more persuasive in justifying their interpretation as users’ rights. Copyright users’ rights mirror the content of the human rights to participate in culture, education, and freedom of expression, which Canada is obliged to implement as a State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The proposed approach would align the discourse with key elements of Canadian jurisprudence: (1) human rights as reinforcers of the rule of law; (2) international human rights law as an interpretive tool for Canadian courts; and (3) the need to interpret Canadian legislation in a manner that does not breach international obligations.

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