The Indian Supreme Court and the Missing Connection between Faith and Dress
The Indian Supreme Court’s recent comments trivialising the importance of religious dress to faith have troubling implications. The Court has rejected a bid to quash guidelines prohibiting candidates from wearing...
Santhara: Jains’ Right to Exit with Dignity
The Jain religion of India has been embroiled in legal controversy surrounding the practice of Santhara or Sallekhana. The Jains, a religious minority in the country, believe in the immortality...
Recent Developments in the UN Human Rights Council: Traditional Values and Women’s Right to Equality in the Family
In recent years at the United Nation’s Human Right’s Council (UNHRC) an ideological challenge has been directed against the universality of international human rights by a strong religious lobby. Religions...
Conscience Wars and Complicity Claims
A new front is opening in the culture wars. Persons of faith are now seeking religious exemptions from laws concerning sex, reproduction, and marriage on the ground that the law...
Lee v Ashers Bakery: Cake Now or Cake Later?
Northern Ireland delivers a small slice of sweet justice to the gay rights movement, but for some, it leaves a bitter aftertaste. Is the law moving too fast? Just days...
Let Them Buy (Gay) Cake: Anti-Discrimination in Northern Irish Courts
Over the weekend, the same-sex marriage referendum in Ireland dominated headlines around the world. The week before the referendum, the media’s attention was focused on Northern Ireland (‘NI’) and another...
Does Islamic Law Deny a Right to Vote?
On April 22nd, British born radical cleric, Anjem Choudary declared Muslim MPs and voters to be “apostates” since he believes voting to be a “sin” against Islam. Allah, Mr. Choudary...
Religion in the classroom: Loyola High School versus the Supreme Court of Canada
In Quebec the Minister of Education, Recreation and Sports mandated that all schools, including private schools, taught a program on “Ethics and Religious Culture” (ERC). The program had to teach...
Blasphemy Laws and Human Rights in Pakistan
Notorious blasphemy laws have a significant impact on minority communities in Pakistan. Particularly their right to life, freedom of speech and freedom of religion as enshrined in Pakistan’s constitution and...
S.A.S v France: Controlling Identities in European Liberal Democracies
As discussed in previous posts, the ECtHR decided in S.A.S v France that the French criminal law ban on face coverings in all public places does not violate European human...
Jamaican Marijuana Reform, Rastas and Rights
In 1997, Dr. Dennis Forsythe, described in Forsythe v Director of Public Prosecutions and Attorney General (1997 34 J.L.R. 512) as a sociologist, holist, author, Rastafarian and attorney-at-law, petitioned the...
A Veiled Attempt at Conformity? Recent Cases Test the Bounds of Canada’s Commitment to Multiculturalism
The boundaries of Canada’s multicultural society have been tested in two recent cases involving religious attire in public forums. In February 2015, a federal court judge struck down portions of...
