Contenuti per la categoria: Diritto ecclesiastico europeo

The Regulation of the Religious Phenomenon in the Difficult Path of the European Legal Space

ABSTRACT: Il problema che le odierne società si trovano ad affrontare non è struturalmente diverso da quello che ha innervato il lungo processo di secolarizzazione: come conciliare l’unità con la diversità? Come offrire una cittadinanza paritaria favorendo la coesistenza fra credenti (nei culti tradizionali o ufficiali), diversamente credenti (dei nuovi insediamenti di popolazioni come, ad esempio, portati delle migrazioni) e i non credenti (in nessuna religione)? Le difficoltà di queste domande si accentuano con riferimento alla tutela effettiva e concreta della libertà di pensiero, coscienza e religione e alla luce dell’operatività dell’Unione Europea e della Convenzione europea dei diritti dell’uomo, i quali hanno dato vita e corpo a un “nuovo" spazio giuridico sovrastatale. L’obiettivo di questo articolo è capirne l’approccio rispetto ai poli normativi dell’eguaglianza e della differenza nei rapporti di convivenza e con riferimento al fattore cultural-religioso.

ABSTRACT: The problem faced by societies today is not structurally different from that which has underpinned the long process of secularisation: how to reconcile unity with diversity? How to offer equal citizenship by allowing believers of different origins and denominations, as well as non-believers (atheists, agnostics or rationalists), to coexist? The difficulty of these questions is accentuated when dealing with religious freedom and when referring to the European Union and the European Convention on Human Rights. They are archetypes of the new European legal space. The aim of this article is to understand the approach of this legal space with regard to the normative poles of equality and diversity, and with reference to the cultural and religious phenomena.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione. – 2. Verso un costituzionalismo deterritorializzato. – 3. Genesi e sviluppo del nuovo spazio giuridico europeo. – 4. Sistema convenzionale e fattore religioso. – 4.1 Sistema convenzionale e sistemi di relazione Stato-Chiese. – 5. L’Unione europea, il processo di integrazione e la religione. – 5.1. Le inespresse potenzialità dell’UE. – 6. Conclusioni.

L’art. 9 della Convenzione E.D.U. secondo la giurisprudenza recente della Corte E.D.U. (2018-2023)

ABSTRACT: The right to religious freedom is constantly changing, following the contemporary treatment of the religious phenomenon within the public sphere of the states. This finding is also evident in the ECHR's jurisprudence, which since the Kokkinakis case seems to have made great progress in the development of the more specific manifestations of religious freedom, such as religious autonomy. In this context, an attempt is made to draw conclusions regarding the right of religious freedom under the related ECHR’s case law.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduction - 2. Freedom of Assembly and Association - 3. Respect for family and private life - 4. Religious freedom in prison - 5. Religious Minorities: the example of Jehovah's Witnesses - 6. The example of Greece - 7. Conclusion.

Principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of religion in EU law and national approaches to the "neutrality" of the public employee 

ABSTRACT: For the first time, the Court of Justice of the European Union has been called upon to give a preliminary ruling on prohibition on wearing visible signs of political, philosophical or religious belief imposed by a public employer, from the perspective of the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of religion enshrine in the Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 (establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation). After a look at principles of State neutrality in France, Germany and Belgium, the paper examines this issue by taking a cue from the Conclusions presented by the Advocate General in case C‑148/22. According to the Author, national identity, to which Article 4(2) TEU refers, leaves in this particular sector a wide margin of discretion to the Member States.

SOMMARIO: 1. Notazioni introduttive - 2. La rivendicazione del diritto della dipendente comunale belga di indossare il velo islamico e l’oggetto della questione sollevata davanti alla Corte di giustizia - 3. Le peculiarità nelle declinazioni nazionali del principio di “neutralità” dei pubblici dipendenti di Francia, Belgio e Germania. La “neutralità esclusiva” francese - 4. (segue) Il caso emblematico della particolare posizione dei genitori che in Francia accompagnano i figli nelle gite scolastiche - 5. (segue) L’approccio tendenzialmente inclusivo della Germania - 6. (segue) Le incertezze interpretative riguardanti la neutralità belga - 7. La sostanziale “privatizzazione” della controversia operata dall’Avvocato generale - 8. Accezioni “forti” e “deboli” di neutralità del pubblico dipendente e il discutibile profilarsi di un loro diverso impatto sull’identità costituzionale degli Stati membri - 9. Una conclusione provvisoria.

ABSTRACT: The article offers a careful analysis on the way the end of the USSR and the growth of the Orthodox presence in the European Union have challenged the concept of canonical territory. In the West, this has produced a phenomenon of the territorialization of the exercise of religious freedom. It is examined how the potential access to the EU of Ukraine, Moldova, Albania and Northern Macedonia will influence the relevance of these Churches in the relations that the Union maintains with them in application of art. 17 TFUE. Indeed, this relation is strengthened by the great consistency of the Orthodox diaspora in the West and by the development and growth of Eparchies abroad, created by the respective national Churches. Therefore, it is appropriate to reflect on the need for identifying self-preservation of all religions and in particular of the Orthodox one, in order to guarantee the balance and orderly development of the Union's institutional political system in a relationship compatible with the needs of separation and secularism of the States. Two key factors are the political crisis of the USSR and the granting of autocephaly to the ecclesiastical communities operating in the states which had become sovereign: this has weakened the Moscow Patriarchate and its role in the Orthodox ecumenical system; at the same time, the ecumenical patriarchate, which claims its exclusive right to grant autocephaly, has proceeded to “contractualize” the nature of his primacy through the structure of the Tomas.

Is it possible to measure religious or belief minority rights?

ABSTRACT: Is it possible to measure how much the legal systems of the European Union countries respect and promote the rights of religious or belief minorities? Based on the findings of the Atlas of religious or belief minority rights research project (https://atlasminorityrights.eu), this article answers the question in the affirmative. The paper is divided into three parts. The first briefly describes the methodology and techniques used to measure minority rights. They are determined by the answers given to some preliminary questions that are discussed in the second part of the contribution. The last section of the article outlines the purpose and value of measuring religious or belief minority rights.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. La misurazione dei diritti delle minoranze di religione e convinzione - 3. L’oggetto e i confini della misurazione - 4. L’utilità della misurazione.

ABSTRACT: Starting from the hermeneutic value played by the veil issue in analyzing the contemporary dynamics of the right to religious freedom in Europe, the paper will focus on the tension between the modern and contemporary paradigm of this right: a tension that makes its effects felt on the broader Mediterranean scale and that hints at new scenarios of a postmodern European right to religious freedom.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduction - 2. Separation: The Matrix of Freedom of Religion as a Right of Modernity - 3. Islam and Separation: Modernity Stumbles - 4. A Broader Scenario: The Mediterranean Backdrop - 5. Prospects for a Post-modern Right to Freedom of Religion.

Emotional relationships and legal border. Family and families in the European area from religious factors and national law to agreement strategies

ABSTRACT: The family is subject to socio-cultural changes and it is regulated differently from European legal systems. In addition, in Europe, by fall of geographical barriers and the increase of migration, there has been the spread of family models not compatible with the principles and values of the host countries resulting in legal, cultural and religious conflicts. The movement of people within the European area call for coordinated actions and/or the adoption of adaptation techniques processes to the recognition of family status and related rights. This process aims to avoid that one legal relations with internationality may undergone different and heterogeneous regulatory disciplines with implications on the effective enjoyment of fundamental rights and religious ones. This work analyzes the regulation of family law in the European judicial area to understand which path to follow in preventing that the movement of people may be hampered by the heterogeneous of national laws and the relevance of the religious factor in this context.

SOMMARIO: - 1. Brevi considerazioni introduttive - 2. La disciplina sostanziale del diritto di famiglia in Europa: la competenza degli ordinamenti nazionali. - 3. Famiglia e diritti nel sistema europeo - 4. Concetto di famiglia e diritto alla vita familiare - 5. Il diritto di famiglia e l’azione dell’Unione europea nello spazio di libertà, sicurezza e giustizia - 6. Sharīʿah, famiglia e diritto europeo: un rapporto difficile e controverso - 7. I Principles of European Family Law - 8. La famiglia tra diritto comune e politiche di armonizzazione - 9. In somma.

ABSTRACT: The article analyzes the recent Latvian Law by which the State unilaterally declares the autocephaly of the Latvian Orthodox Church. The latter was previously under the Patriarchate of Moscow and all Russias. In addition, the study illustrates the changes made to the Law of Latvia, on the legal status of this Church. Much emphasis is put on the violation of the principle of separation, enshrined in art. 99 of the Latvian Constitution, further addressing the tendency to change the ecclesiastical policy of the European Union as a result of the war in Ukraine.

SUMMARY: 1. The State proclaims by law the autocephaly of the Latvian Orthodox Church - 2. Birth and development of the Latvian Orthodox Church - 3. The Religious Freedom Law and its amendments - 4. The Law on the Latvian Orthodox Church and the amendments made by the Saeima in 2019-2022 - 5. State legislative intervention, separatism and the Constitution - 6. Separatism, secularism and neo-jurisdictionalism in the European Union.

Still about wearing the Islamic headscarf and employee discrimination in private undertakings 

ABSTRACT: This article analyses the development of the jurisprudence of Court of Justice of the European Union on the right to wear an Islamic headscarf at work. In the recent CJEU cases it has been reaffirmed that the employer’s rules do not constitute direct discrimination; however, it has been made clear that a policy of neutrality can justify objectively a difference of treatment indirectly based on religion or belief whether it meets a “genuine need” on the part of the undertaking. This test in most cases is not very different from the one concerning the presence of the “genuine occupational requirements”. The need to seek appropriate forms of composition between the freedom of the worker and the freedom of the company may make anti-discrimination protection under the ground of “religion” weaker than that under the other grounds covered by EU anti-discrimination law; but this is a consequence of the fact that the ground of discrimination constituted by “religion or belief” has been taken by the Court in close connection with the freedom protected by Article 10 EUCFR.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa introduttiva - 2. Il quadro dei principi di diritto fissati dalla Corte di giustizia in tema di porto del velo islamico nei luoghi di lavoro privato - 3. Il problema dell’individuazione del parametro della “situazione analoga” nel giudizio di comparazione volto ad accertare una discriminazione diretta per motivi religiosi - 4. Alla ricerca delle ragioni in base alle quali si dà per scontata la non praticabilità di una comparazione “esterna” ai dipendenti aziendali di un medesimo datore di lavoro - 5. I termini di una corretta comparazione interna ai dipendenti dell’azienda - 6. L’improponibilità, sul piano sostanziale, di una piena equiparazione del fattore di rischio legato all’esternazione delle convinzioni “religiose” a quello legato all’esternazione di convinzioni “filosofiche” e “politiche” - 7. La presunta migliore adattabilità dello schema della discriminazione indiretta in rapporto a una materia che richiede una peculiare opera di composizione tra distinte libertà fondamentali adeguata alle caratteristiche dell’azienda e alle mansioni svolte dalla lavoratrice - 8. La questione dei limiti di ammissibilità di disposizioni nazionali più favorevoli - 9. Considerazioni conclusive.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. The coronavirus crisis: a tragedy and an opportunity - 2. Demanding governments’ accountability - 3. The conditions for legitimate restrictions on freedom of religion or belief - 4. The significance of equality and State’s neutrality for the protection of religious freedom - 5. Advantages of dialogue and cooperation between State and religion - 6. Support and doubts in the reaction of religious communities to governmental measures - 7. Final remarks.

ABASTRACT: This article explores peculiarities of the COVID-19 pandemic in comparison to other health crisis experienced in the past. Each character is thoroughly examined in the article. The article focuses on four thematic areas: the legal regulation of the fight against coronavirus; the equality of treatment of religious freedom in relation to other fundamental rights; the cooperation between the State and religious communities; and the reactions of religious communities to governmental measures. The article argues that rather than raising new questions, COVD-19 has forced us to deal with familiar questions under unprecedented circumstances. In this frame, time has played a central role as a factor to be taken into account to scrutinize the legitimacy of measures introducing severe limitations to fundamental rights and freedoms. Finally, the article claims that from a legal perspective, the experience of the past months reveals that, especially in times of crisis, we need a scrupulous respect for the requirements of the rule of law, including a strict accountability and transparency from governments, and putting especial emphasis on the protection of fundamental rights, among which is freedom of religion or belief.