Conversion of Religion: A Study on the Position of Law, Religion, and Practice in Malaysia and Egypt

Author(s):  
Nur Arfah Abdul Sabian ◽  
Abdul Mutalib Embong ◽  
Raja Ahmad Iskandar Raja Yaacob ◽  
Zullina Hussain Shaari

Objective - This paper is a comparative study between two selected countries in relation to conversion cases in religion or belief. Malaysia and Egypt are in the picture since both are Islamic countries, and frequently being reported to possess low level of religious freedom prior to the intervention of the religious authorities and Shariah court. The first part of the paper will discuss the definition of conversion and apostasy. The second part follows with the position on the right of conversion in the stated countries Methodology/Technique - The paper will use the content analysis methodology. Its approach focuses on the literature sources from printed media such as books, law journals, written reports and other relevant and authentic materials. Findings - Highlight the main findings that justified the research theme. Novelty - It will narrow the discussion to illustrate the development of the administration of justice specifically for the right of conversion in both countries in line to UDHR 1948. Type of Paper - Review. Keywords: Freedom of religion, conversion, Islam, human right, comparative studies, Malaysia, Egypt

Legal Studies ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 615-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eoin Daly ◽  
Tom Hickey

In law and discourse, it has typically been assumed that the religious freedom of state-funded religious schools must trump any competing right to non-discrimination on grounds of belief. For example, the Irish Constitution has been interpreted as requiring the broad exemption of denominational schools from the statutory prohibition on religious discrimination in school admissions. This stance is mirrored in the UK Equality Act 2010. Thus, religious discrimination in the public education context has been rationalised with reference to a ‘liberty-equality dichotomy’, which prioritises the integrity of faith schools' ‘ethos’, as an imperative of religious freedom. We argue that this familiar conceptual dichotomy generates a novel set of absurdities in this peculiar context. We suggest that the construction of religious freedom and non-discrimination as separate and antagonistic values rests on a conceptually flawed definition of religious freedom itself, which overlooks the necessary dependence of religious freedom on non-discrimination. Furthermore, it overstates the necessity, to religious freedom, of religious schools' ‘right to discriminate’. We argue for an alternative ordering of the values of religious freedom and non-discrimination – which we locate within the neo-republican theory of freedom as non-domination.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
Donato VESE

Governments around the world are strictly regulating information on social media in the interests of addressing fake news. There is, however, a risk that the uncontrolled spread of information could increase the adverse effects of the COVID-19 health emergency through the influence of false and misleading news. Yet governments may well use health emergency regulation as a pretext for implementing draconian restrictions on the right to freedom of expression, as well as increasing social media censorship (ie chilling effects). This article seeks to challenge the stringent legislative and administrative measures governments have recently put in place in order to analyse their negative implications for the right to freedom of expression and to suggest different regulatory approaches in the context of public law. These controversial government policies are discussed in order to clarify why freedom of expression cannot be allowed to be jeopardised in the process of trying to manage fake news. Firstly, an analysis of the legal definition of fake news in academia is presented in order to establish the essential characteristics of the phenomenon (Section II). Secondly, the legislative and administrative measures implemented by governments at both international (Section III) and European Union (EU) levels (Section IV) are assessed, showing how they may undermine a core human right by curtailing freedom of expression. Then, starting from the premise of social media as a “watchdog” of democracy and moving on to the contention that fake news is a phenomenon of “mature” democracy, the article argues that public law already protects freedom of expression and ensures its effectiveness at the international and EU levels through some fundamental rules (Section V). There follows a discussion of the key regulatory approaches, and, as alternatives to government intervention, self-regulation and especially empowering users are proposed as strategies to effectively manage fake news by mitigating the risks of undue interference by regulators in the right to freedom of expression (Section VI). The article concludes by offering some remarks on the proposed solution and in particular by recommending the implementation of reliability ratings on social media platforms (Section VII).


Author(s):  
Hannah Lambie-Mumford

Chapter 3 sets out the key theories with which the book engages: food insecurity and the human right to food. Following on from a conceptualisation and definition of food insecurity, the right to food is introduced. Emphasis is placed on normative element of ‘adequacy and sustainability of food availability and access’ and on the state’s obligation to ‘respect, protect and fulfil the right to food’. Theories of ‘othering’ and ‘agency’ are employed to assess the social acceptability of emergency food systems as a means of acquiring food, and the power of providers to make sufficient food available through these systems and of potential recipients to access it. Theories of ‘care’ and ‘social protection’ are employed to explore the ways in which charitable providers are in practice taking responsibility for the duty to respect, protect and fulfil the right to food and how shifts in welfare policy are affecting need for this provision.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Baines

This article addresses a research gap by analysing the way the Australian legal system is balancing the right to religious autonomy of organisations and the right of lgbti individuals not to be discriminated against, and considers what ought to be the case. I argue that the Australian legal system recognises the value of religious freedom on the one hand, and on the other hand, does not place a high priority on protecting it as an existing human right. My findings reveal that the Australian legal system is not always defining the religion and society relationship in ways that reflect the lived reality of religion in society. The issue is compounded by the wording of religious exemptions under anti-discrimination law which is contested within faith communities. As a consequence, religious freedom can be unfairly restricted. I conclude with recommendations to improve the status quo.


2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-179
Author(s):  
Michael J. Perry

In this essay, I elaborate and defend the internationally recognized human right to religious freedom. I then pursue the implications of the right for government’s exclusion of same-sex couples from of civil marriage.


2019 ◽  
pp. 66-69
Author(s):  
N. Yu. Hut

The paper analyzes the concepts of administrative process presented in legal science. It is stated that every concept of the administrative process has the right to exist, because all of them are based on the facts, phenomena and norms actually existing in the legal system of Ukraine. However, three of them are most thoroughly presented in the legal literature: 1) the concept of a broad understanding of the administrative process; 2) jurisdictional (law enforcement) concept of the administrative process; 3) the concept of a narrow understanding of the administrative process. Representatives of a broad understanding of the administrative process argue that the procedural form is present wherever there is a need to implement substantive rules of administrative law, and all organizational legal relations are inherently procedural relations. Representatives of the jurisdictional and law-enforcement concepts of the administrative process, firstly, are convinced that the procedural form can be inherent only in activities related to the administrative-jurisdictional or law-enforcement activities of the competent authorities, and secondly, that the organizational legal relations are evenly distributed between substantive and procedural relations. Representatives of the concept of narrow definition of the administrative process insist that the procedural form relates solely to the activity of one branch of power - the judiciary, and therefore procedural relations arise only in the sphere of administration of justice by the courts.


Author(s):  
Natalia Kutuzova

The article substantiates the universal value of religious freedom, based on the fundamental human right to freedom of religion and belief. Referring to the relevant international documents, the author reveals the content of the concept of "religious freedom" and concludes that there are two basic values at the heart of human rights: human dignity and equality. Only a systematic approach to freedom of religion in the human rights complex gives them universal value. There are two components to freedom of religion (belief): freedom of thought, conscience, and religion; the right to profess one's religion or belief. Religious freedom has both a universal and a private dimension. Being secular in nature, freedom of religion is especially evident in modern societies, which secularity and inclusivity empowers people to decide for themselves about their religiosity. The article deals with the restrictions that exist for religious freedom. Often the right to practice one's religion comes into conflict with different rights of other people. The protection of these rights must come from the principles of non-discrimination, neutrality and impartiality, respect for the right to religion, pluralism and tolerance, institutional and personal autonomy, lack of a hierarchy of human rights. The article argues that religious freedom is a universal value and right in the human rights complex.


2019 ◽  
pp. 116-120
Author(s):  
M. A. Boiaryntseva

In the article the author determines the peculiarities of consideration and resolution of administrative disputes in foreign countries. The author emphasizes that the priority international and European principle of the implementation of justice is the observance of the rule of law. It has been determined that the contents of the precedents of the European Court of Human Rights testify that they not only contain substantive decisions, but also the norms whose application solves the problem of the interpretation of legal institutions, in particular, such as the principles of the administration of justice. The author stresses that the achievement of the requirements of ensuring the rule of law and the rule of law in accordance with European standards requires the definition of the limits of exercising discretionary powers by public administration bodies. The discretionary powers of public authorities and local self-government bodies cannot be unrestricted, and national courts should determine the limits of interference in their implementation. It is substantiated that the performed characteristic of the aforementioned normative legal acts allows us to conclude that it is necessary to study the principles of the implementation of legal proceedings in the European administrative space as a conditional "benchmark" of the development of the system of administrative courts established by the current legislation. It is stressed that the recommendations that require their implementation in the current administrative-procedural legislation include the implementation of such standards for the implementation of legal proceedings as foreseen requirements for the abolition of the right to appeal in the event that a person failed to comply with part of the court decision that provided for immediate enforcement; definition of procedure for pre-trial and extrajudicial settlement of administrative disputes. It is substantiated that borrowing from the experience of administrative tribunals established in the Anglo-Saxon judicial system, where administrative complaints are dealt with by specially authorized lawyers, is one of the possible ways of solving the problems of a significant load on the system of administrative courts of Ukraine. The author concludes that the effectiveness of the national justice system as a whole, and in particular, administrative justice, depends on the implementation and further implementation of international and foreign standards for the administration of justice.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 268-285
Author(s):  
Barbara J. Lowe

The “right to belong” is a human right in two ways. First, there is the right to belong in a limited sense, i.e., to the extent necessary for individuals to secure all other human rights, such as those recognized by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Second, there is a deeper aspect of the right to belong, that which is necessary to flourish as a human being. To establish, first, that the right to belong in a limited sense should be a human right, I draw upon Hannah Arendt’s claim that stateless persons are without rights, as only communities can grant them. I argue that this limited level of belonging is a necessary but insufficient condition for human flourishing. Full human flourishing requires belonging on a deeper level. To articulate the nature of this deeper level of belonging I draw on Simone Weil’s definition of the “need for roots” and John Dewey and Jane Addams’ constructions of the self as social. I then show how “belonging” in a deeper sense necessarily connects with how a person is perceived and received by individuals and institutions in a community and argue that full perception by and participation in a community is necessary for humans to flourish. Thus, the right to belong imposes an ethical obligation on other members of the community to perceive undocumented immigrants as full human persons with the potential to lead flourishing lives.


Author(s):  
Hannah Lambie-Mumford

Chapter 8 focuses on the consequences of the rise of emergency food provision for the progressive realisation of the human right to food in the UK. The chapter discusses the opportunities that the right to food approach provides and its appropriateness in the current context and sets out three key conclusions. The first is that there is a need to challenge minimalist approaches to the definition of food insecurity, ways in which responses are framed and solutions understood. The second conclusion relates to the importance of rights-based policies to move us forward from the current situation, where the findings suggest there is an increasing reliance on emergency food provision in the context of a retrenched welfare state. The third conclusion relates to the important social and political role emergency food charities could have in the realisation of the right to food. The conclusion chapter ends with recommendations for a range of stakeholders including emergency food charities, policy makers, NGOs, the food industry, communities and individuals and researchers.


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