Freedom of Religion

What factors shape public attitudes toward the European Union (EU)? Observers of public opinion during the early stages of European integration found a stable ‘permissive consensus’ among citizens that allowed elites to pursue the project without deep public scrutiny. Almost everyone supported integration; there was very little variation to explain. Enlargement, deepening integration, and a […]

In my previous post I analyzed the first ruling at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), “S.A.S v. France”, concerning the full-face veil. The ECtHR introduced the principle “living together” as a legitimate aim to ban the burqa and niqab in France, on the basis that wearing the full-face veil hinders communication among individuals. I thought that ruling was dangerously […]

In this post I would like to analyze the first ruling at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), “S.A.S v. France”, concerning the full-face veil. In this case a Muslim woman, who voluntarily wore the niqab, alleged that the burqa-ban passed in France breached her right to manifest her Islamic faith according to article 9 […]

Yesterday, BBC online reported on the new ruling made by the German Constitutional Court (GCC), which specifically held that prohibiting teachers from wearing the Islamic Veil in public schools is not compatible with the German Constitution. This ruling affects eight federal states (Baden – Württemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Bremen, Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine Westphalia and Saarland), which had […]

In my first post, I commented on the Spanish Supreme Court’s (SSC) ruling regarding the burqa and niqab in Spain. I would like to pay special attention to the approach taken by the French and Belgian Constitutional Courts, and how this differs from the SSC. The French Constitutional Court (FCC), on 5 March 2013, and […]

Last February, the “Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Cataluña” (TSJC) suspended the municipal ordinance of Reus (Catalonia), which prohibited individuals from fully covering their faces in public spaces. The TSJC referred to the ruling of the Spanish Supreme Court (SSC), which concluded that it is not legitimate for a municipality to ban a fundamental right […]