Brill Research Perspectives in Law and Religion – serie

To which extent is it legitimate, in view of freedom of conscience and religion, to sanction individuals for refusing to take part in an activity they claim to be incompatible with their moral or religious convictions? To answer this question, this study first clarifies some of the concepts of conscientious objection. Then it examines the case law of international bodies and draws distinctions in order to differentiate several types of objections, hence identifying the evaluation criteria applicable to the respect that each one deserves. Finally, this study proposes indications as to the rights and obligations of the State in front of those different types of objections.

In Juridification of Religion? Helge Årsheim and Pamela Slotte explore the extent to which developments currently taking place at the interface between law and religion in domestic, regional and international law can be conceptualized as instances of larger, multidimensional processes of juridification. The book relies on an expansive notion of juridification, departing from the narrower sense of juridification as the gradually increasing “colonization of the lifeworld” proposed by Jürgen Habermas in his Theory of Communicative Action (1987). More specifically, the book adapts the multidimensional notion of juridification outlined by Anders Molander and Lars Christian Blichner (2008), developing it into a more context-specific notion of juridification that is attendant to the specific nature of religion as a subject matter for law.

In Freedom of Religion and Its Regulation in Nigeria: Analysis of Preaching Board Laws in Some States of Northern Nigeria, Ahmed Salisu Garba provides an account of how states in Northern Nigeria have enacted laws to regulate religious preaching in the spheres of influence. The work examines the debates surrounding the laws and how the state in collaboration with dominant religious groups persecuted members of minority religious in the states. The author applied an argumentative approach to raise and analyse issues relating to the reasonability of the laws in Nigeria, reasons for their enactment, judicial review mechanisms employed in the determination of the reasonability of the laws in democracies, and how they accord with the freedom of religion clause in the Nigerian Constitution.

In Religion and belief in United Kingdom employment law, Frank Cranmer discusses the relationships between religion and employment in the wider context. It is a particularly complex area of law that touches on a wide variety of issues, ranging from the basic question, ‘exactly what constitutes a “religion” or “belief”?’ to ‘what kinds of religious dress do my employees have a right to wear to work?’ and ‘what religious standards – if any – can I, as an employer, demand of my employees?’.The purpose of the study is to provide an overview of some of the current issues and problems surrounding the law relating to employment by religious organisations and the manifestation of religion in the workplace. Because the complexity of the law means that individual outcomes in disputed cases are often depend heavily on the facts, it does so primarily by examining recent case-law.

Religious courts have been part of the European legal landscape for centuries. Almost all churches and religious communities have their own judicial systems, often composed of courts or tribunals ordered hierarchically. The aim of this book is to present cases from the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, in which a religious court was involved at the stage of domestic proceedings. The twelve cases in question originate from a number of European States, in which the applicants belonged to many denominations, although predominantly Christian. The Court of Human Rights has mainly been concerned with religious courts in terms of compliance with the requirement for a fair hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal under Article 6 of the European Convention of Human Rights and has come to various conclusions. The most recent judgment from September 2017, Nagy v. Hungary, and in particular many associated dissenting opinions, demonstrate that the matter is worthy of study, particularly in the contemporary context of religious freedom.

This book combines Christian theology, Enlightenment liberalism, and modern social science to defend the marital family as an essential institution for adults and children, regardless of sexual orientation. John Witte presents the marital family as an integrated sphere with natural, social, economic, communicative, contractual, and spiritual dimensions. He rejects modern efforts to abolish the legal category of marriage or to reduce it to a transient and malleable sexual contract.While celebrating the sexual liberty of consensual adults, Witte calls for stable marital families and responsible sex and parentage as the surest and safest path to private flourishing and social stability for all.

Was the Catholic Church responsible for European imperialism? Activists say yes, the Church says no. This book examines the key papal document from 1493. It finds that the Church played no role in English colonization. However, Pope Alexander VI may have intended to bless Spanish imperialism. Either way, over the next 150 years, Spain saw its empire as a gift from him. For many imperialists and many colonial subjects, Spain received its right to rule Indigenous lands straight from the Pope’s hand.

This volume unites three disparate strands of historical and legal experience. Nearly from its beginning, the Catholic Church has sought to promote peace – among warring parties, and among private litigants. The volume explores three vehicles the Church has used to promote peace: papal diplomacy of international disputes both medieval and contemporary; the arbitration of disputes among litigants; and the use of the tools of reconciliation to bring about rapprochement between ecclesiastical superiors and those subject to their authority. The book concludes with an appendix exploring a wide variety of hypothetical, yet plausible scenarios in which the Church might use its good offices to repair breaches among persons and nations.

"Table talks" have long been a familiar genre of writing for jurists, theologians, politicians, and novelists. In this little volume, leading law and religion scholar John Witte offers thirty sage reflections on how to thrive in law school and in the legal profession; short commentaries on controversial matters of faith, freedom, and family; pithy sermons on difficult biblical texts about law and justice; and touching tributes to a few of his fallen heroes. Most of the thirty texts gathered here were made at seminar tables, academic roundtables, editorial tables, and Eucharist tables. Cast in avuncular form, these texts probe what makes life worth living, work worth doing, history worth reading, and Scripture worth heeding. They aim to provide inspiration and edification for readers at different stages of their lives.