Seminar Announcement: Law’s Imagining of Religion - Belgium, 23 September

When: 23 September 2014

Where: Ghent University’s Faculty of Law, Voldersstraat 3, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

The Human Rights Centre of Ghent University is organising a seminar entitled “Law’s Imagining of Religion: A Debate across Disciplines.” The seminar will bring together religion and legal scholars from Canada, Europe and the United States, including Winnifred Fallers Sullivan, Cecile Laborde, Helge Arsheim, Malcolm Evans, Lori G. Beaman, Susanna Mancini, Solange Lefebvre, Mark Hill, Meadhbh McIvor and Lourdes Peroni.

Speakers will address questions such as: Are the notions of religion underpinning the law inclusive enough to attend to today’s diversity of religious ways? If not, can and should these notions be legally “stretched” so as to become more responsive to such diversity? The morning sessions will focus on how law, including human rights law, understands and should understand religion. The afternoon sessions will focus on the ways in which the European Court of Human Rights conceives of and should conceive of religion. Scholars presenting in the afternoon will unpack the notions of religion underlying high-profile freedom of religion judgments (includingS.A.SLautsiEweida and Bayatyan) and examine the extent to which these notions attend and should attend to applicants’ religious experiences.

Topics include:

  • Proving Religion: What Evidence is Relevant?
  • The Disaggregating Approach to the Study of Religion
  • Religion in the UN System
  • The Forum Internum and the Forum Externum of Freedom of Religion in International Human Rights Law
  • Religious Clothing in ECHR Case Law
  • Religious Objects in ECHR Case Law
  • Conscientious Objection in the ECHR Case Law

A limited number of places are still available. Attendance is free, but registration is required. If you would like to attend this seminar please send an email to Lourdes Peroni at hrcevent@ugent.be.

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