Religion and Law Consortium

January 2010

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies has announced the release of the casebook Law and Religion: National, International, and Comparative Perspectives, co-authored by ICLRS Director W. Cole Durham, Jr. and Associate Director Brett G. Scharffs and published by Aspen Publishers / Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. Developed for use in English-speaking law-school courses, the work is a dynamic combination of international and domestic materials, designed to stimulate discussion of familiar and sensitive issues of conflict and debate in a global context. "Timely and incisive," the publishers note, it "makes a valuable contribution to the study of Law and Religion, Church and State, International Human Rights, Comparative Constitutional Law, and First Amendment Law."

November 2009 - Strasbourg

On 3 November 2009 the European Court of Human Rights issued its decision in the case of Lautsi v. Italy, ruling that the display of crucifixes in Italian public schools violates Article 2 of Protocol 1 (right to education) and Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion) of the European Convention on Human Rights.  Rejecting the assertions of the Italian government that the crucifix is a national symbol with cultural and historical significance expressing identity, tolerance, and secularism, the court ordered the government to pay a fine of €5000 ($7,300) to applicant Soile Lautsi, mother of two children whom she claimed were affronted by the display of crucifixes in the public school they attended. Church representatives and government officials were angered and confused by the "extraordinarily wide" ruling, which could have the effect of forcing review of displays of religious symbols in government-run schools across Europe. 

November 2009 - Strasbourg

In a chamber judgment of 6 October 2009, the European Court of Human Rights issued a controversial decision on conscientious objection in the case Bayatyan v. Armenia. Commenting on the decision in a 19 November 2009 report of Forum 18 News Service, Derek Brett of Conscience and Peace Tax International asserts that the Court, "apparently unaware ... [more]

May 2009 -  Budapest

In conjunction with Central European University, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies (ICLRS) sponsored a conference entitled “Religious Autonomy” held 29-30 May 2009 in Budapest, Hungary. Conference topics focused on theological and jurisprudential perspectives on religious autonomy. The assembled experts also discussed autonomy issues that are currently under consideration by the European Court of Human Rights, specifically, religious employment and the resolution of religious disputes. Finally, ... [more]

January 2009 

Two important dates in January recognize the right of religious freedom: January 16th is national Religious Freedom Day and January 11th is Religious Freedom Sunday, a nationwide initiative established by Gateways to Better Education to increase awareness of Religious Freedom Day. January 16th is the anniversary of the passage of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, drafted by Thomas Jefferson and intended to protect the rights of all people to express, or to not express, their religious beliefs free of discrimination based on those ... [more]