Lessons from Sir Henry Brooke: Making Rights Real (I)
What if? What if the UK House of Lords (as the UK Supreme Court then was) had left the judgment of Lord Justice Brooke in Begum in the Court of...
Right to Freedom of Religion
Antwerp Court muddies the waters: Belgian Burkini Ban Justified
On 18 December 2018, the Antwerp court of first instance held that the burkini ban in the Antwerp Police Regulations does not constitute discrimination based on religion. As opposed to...
Secularism as separation and neutrality: A redefinition of Concepts by the Constitutional Court of Peru
Last month, the Constitutional Court of Peru issued a judgment in the case 00007-2014-PA/TC, which concerned an application for amparo (constitutional relief) in favour of a teacher. The case began...
The UK Supreme Court and the Gay Marriage Cake: Is ‘Indissociability’ Half-baked?
Giving the judgment of the court in Lee v Ashers Baking Co (2018), Lady Hale discusses ‘indissociability’ when determining whether direct discrimination has occurred. Indissociability refers to circumstances in which...
Veil of Discord: France’s Approach to Religious Clothing Condemned by the United Nations Human Rights Committee
In three decisions issued on 10 August 2018 and 23 October 2018, the United Nations Human Rights Committee (UNHRC) found that France violated rights guaranteed under the International Covenant on...
The Consequences of the Ashers Cake Judgment
The Supreme Court has allowed the appeal by Belfast bakery Ashers Bakery and its managers Mr and Mrs McArthur in refusing to bake a cake for Gareth Lee, who had...
Indian Supreme Court Strikes Down Ban on Women’s Entry into Religious Temple
Recently, a (4:1) majority of a five-judge bench of the Indian Supreme Court in Indian Lawyers Association v. State of Kerala upheld the right of women to worship in the...
Religious symbols in schools: Passive and harmless or a powerful threat?
In Lautsi v Italy (2012), the applicant argued that the presence of crucifixes in state school classrooms violated students’ Article 9 ECHR right to religious freedom, but the ECtHR deemed...
The EU Can do More to Protect Religious Freedom
On 4 September 2018, the European Parliament Intergroup on Freedom of Religion or Belief and Religious Tolerance presented its fourth Annual Report on Freedom of Religion or Belief. The Report...
The Sabarimala Temple Ban: An ‘Untouchable’ Rule
On 1st August, 2018, the Supreme Court of India concluded its hearing on a crucial matter regarding the Sabrimala Temple in the State of Kerala. The case deals with the...
Canadian Supreme Court Deeply Divided on Religious Freedom in Faith-Based Law School Cases
Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) wrote the final chapter of a years-long saga concerning the fate of a proposed law school at Trinity Western University (TWU),...
#NotMarriedat11: Legal Failures to Protect Children from Child Marriage in Malaysia
With the recent highlighting of yet another case of child marriage in Malaysia, where a 41 year old man married an 11 year old girl, the prevalence of child marriage...
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