Religious symbols and state regulation
Religious symbols are historically significant and socially powerful. They have many forms and functions. Their legal regulation presents difficult challenges for courts, particularly international courts. This article examines how the European Court of Human Rights has approached the regulation of...
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| Format: | Article |
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Brill
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43975/ |
| _version_ | 1848796809120448512 |
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| author | McGoldrick, Dominic |
| author_facet | McGoldrick, Dominic |
| author_sort | McGoldrick, Dominic |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Religious symbols are historically significant and socially powerful. They have many forms and functions. Their legal regulation presents difficult challenges for courts, particularly international courts. This article examines how the European Court of Human Rights has approached the regulation of the regulation of religious symbols by national jurisdictions. It submits that the fundamental touchstone of the Court’s jurisprudence lies in its approach to secularism. It has accepted secularism as consistent with the values underpinning the Convention. This is a strategic and sensible approach. There are limits imposed by the prohibitions on discrimination and indoctrination. Beyond secularism there have been tentative steps towards a balancing / reasonable accommodation approach but the Court appreciates that the balances are difficult ones on which reasonable people, and even reasonable states, may legitimately disagree. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:53:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-43975 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:53:53Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Brill |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-439752020-05-04T19:00:35Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43975/ Religious symbols and state regulation McGoldrick, Dominic Religious symbols are historically significant and socially powerful. They have many forms and functions. Their legal regulation presents difficult challenges for courts, particularly international courts. This article examines how the European Court of Human Rights has approached the regulation of the regulation of religious symbols by national jurisdictions. It submits that the fundamental touchstone of the Court’s jurisprudence lies in its approach to secularism. It has accepted secularism as consistent with the values underpinning the Convention. This is a strategic and sensible approach. There are limits imposed by the prohibitions on discrimination and indoctrination. Beyond secularism there have been tentative steps towards a balancing / reasonable accommodation approach but the Court appreciates that the balances are difficult ones on which reasonable people, and even reasonable states, may legitimately disagree. Brill 2017-08-14 Article PeerReviewed McGoldrick, Dominic (2017) Religious symbols and state regulation. Religion and Human Rights, 12 (2-3). pp. 128-141. ISSN 1871-0328 Religion Religious symbols Religious dress Secularism Discrimination Margin of appreciation European Court of Human Rights European Convention on Human Rights http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/18710328-12231155 doi:10.1163/18710328-12231155 doi:10.1163/18710328-12231155 |
| spellingShingle | Religion Religious symbols Religious dress Secularism Discrimination Margin of appreciation European Court of Human Rights European Convention on Human Rights McGoldrick, Dominic Religious symbols and state regulation |
| title | Religious symbols and state regulation |
| title_full | Religious symbols and state regulation |
| title_fullStr | Religious symbols and state regulation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Religious symbols and state regulation |
| title_short | Religious symbols and state regulation |
| title_sort | religious symbols and state regulation |
| topic | Religion Religious symbols Religious dress Secularism Discrimination Margin of appreciation European Court of Human Rights European Convention on Human Rights |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43975/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43975/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/43975/ |