Berry, Stephanie E (2017) A 'good faith' interpretation of the right to manifest religion? The diverging approaches of the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Human Rights Committee. Legal Studies. ISSN 0261-3875

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Abstract

The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and UN Human Rights Committee have reached contradictory decisions in cases concerning the right to manifest religion. This discrepancy calls into question the universality of the right and is problematic from the perspective of legal certainty. Consequently, this article explores the extent to which the diverging decisions of these two bodies are compatible with a good faith interpretation of the right to manifest religion. A good faith interpretation of the right is identified by utilising the travaux préparatoires and subsequent interpretations. It is argued that by failing to scrutinise the necessity of restrictions and the role of secularism, the ECtHR has undermined this good faith interpretation and, in so doing, is not fulfilling its role as ‘the conscience of Europe’.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	Freedom of Religion, Human Rights, The European Convention on Human Rights, The UN Human Rights Committee
Schools and Departments:	School of Law, Politics and Sociology > Law
Subjects:	K Law
Depositing User:	Stephanie Berry
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2016 14:45
Last Modified:	16 Jun 2017 19:03
URI:	http://srodev.sussex.ac.uk/id/eprint/63027

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