SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. Main Part. An Examination - 3. Complete exhaustion of the subject of the executive act adopted by the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1686 - 4. Assessment of the actions from the perspective of the legislation of the Republic of Turkey - 5. Conclusions.
SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. La libertà religiosa e le regole alimentari religiose - 3. Le regole alimentari religiose e la laicità dello Stato - 4. Il menù quaresimale - 5. L’immunità dall’esposizione - 6. Conclusioni.
Religious dietary rules and school lunch menus: a challenge for secularism?
ABSTRACT: The paper starts from a case of dietary pluralism to discuss the possibility to justify menus sensitive to different religious dietary rules in schools’ canteens. Building on an analysis of the idea of secularism, both in its legal interpretation and in its philosophical understanding in terms of neutrality, I try to show that providing for menus sensitive to different religious dietary rules does not amount to a breach of secularism; it is, rather, a legitimate consequence of the protection of individuals’ rights to freedom of conscience and religion. Moreover, whenever institutions take action to devise and implement such menus they can be taken to act on a commitment to respecting the beliefs of minority groups in society without expecting that these groups, which are often migrant communities suffering of well-known problems of social integration, take on the burden to put forward public claims.
Il 28 settembre 2018, presso l’Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, si è tenuto un convegno internazionale co-finanziato dall’Unione Europea, che ha visto la partecipazione di giovani studiosi delle più diverse discipline giuridiche, italiani e stranieri. I relatori, selezionati in seguito ad una “call for papers”, cui è stata data ampia pubblicità in Italia e all’estero, si sono confrontati sul tema del pluralismo religioso nel sistema europeo e, soprattutto, nella recente giurisprudenza delle Corti sovranazionali. (continua)
SOMMARIO: 1. Considerazioni introduttive sul fondamentalismo odierno: alcune differenze rispetto ai movimenti omologhi dei decenni precedenti - 2. L’influenza del fondamentalismo sulla demografia religiosa e sul contenzioso giurisdizionale negli Stati Uniti d’America - 3. Il fondamentalismo americano protestante e le omologhe istanze etiche e giuridiche di gruppi religiosi contemporanei - 4. La Chiesa di Gesù Cristo dei Santi degli Ultimi Giorni: le origini di una protesta contro la teologia ottocentesca - 5. L’escatologia teocratica dei Testimoni di Geova e le conseguenze ordinamentali - 6. Possibili conclusioni: il ruolo del fondamentalismo cristiano nella conformazione attuale delle istituzioni statunitensi.
The origins of the Christian fundamentalism: comparative approaches and research perspectives
ABSTRACT: The aim of this essay is to demonstrate the Christian roots of the public discourse concerning fundamentalism, its disciplines, groups and legal consequences. This issue implies to go back to the first Christian fundamentalist experiences born and raised during last two centuries in America (with a peculiar focus on the United States). By reconsidering a wide historical period and a not simple variety of local religious communities, it will be possible to underline a substantial and concurrent beginning for similar movements in the progressive development of Jehovah’s Witnesses, new wave Lutheran and Baptist Churches, Church of Latter Day Saints: some of the same faiths and cults still effecting the American recent ecclesiastical controversies.
SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa metodologica - 2. Cenni storici sulle comunità musulmane francesi - 3. La re-invenzione di una tradizione? - 4. Mangiare halal a scuola: l’affaire di Chalon-sur-Saône - 5. Conclusioni.
Halal alimentation and the challenges against french laïcité: the request of alternative menu in the school canteens
ABSTRACT: The article will concern the debate about the balance between secularism and religious-driven prerogatives through a narrow focus on the diffusion of halal food in France. In particular, I will shed light on the increasing request of shari'a-compliant food by Muslims in some social spaces, for instance in the school canteens. My research will unfold its arguments in two sections. In the first one, I will address the recent development of halal market in France and try to frame the reasons of such burgeoning activities - revival of Islam or neoliberal marketing strategy? In the second part, I will consider the sentence of Dijon Administrative Tribunal, which in 2017 abolished the decision of the mayor of Chalon-sur-Saône of suppressing halal menu in the school canteens. The verdict might be read as an opinion favourable to Muslim’s prerogatives. Nonetheless, the rationale of the judgement does lie indeed in the defence of the “best interest of the child”, whereas the basic principles of French laicité were not put into discussion.
SOMMARIO: 1. Dal socialismo di Stato allo Stato confessionale - 2. L’Accordo di collaborazione con l’Esarcato della Chiesa ortodossa Russa in Bielorussia - 3. Le materie oggetto di accordo e la confessionalizzazione delle istituzioni e dello Stato - 4. Gli accordi con gli altri culti tradizionali - 5. Il prezzo dell’alleanza: la lotta alle nuove confessioni religiose attraverso la legge sulla libertà religiosa - 6. Alcune considerazioni finali.
Belarus in search of its identity and the process of confessionalisation of the State
ABSTRACT: The current piece analyzes the stages characterizing the transition from State socialism to State Confessionalism through the Collaboration Agreement between the Belorussian Government and the Exarcate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. The main subjects of the agreement and the confessionalisation process of the institutions are taken into account. The essay deals with the alteration of the basic functions of the Belorussian State, namely education, health services and assistancy to the segregating foundations, etc. Furthermore, the agreements with other traditional religious groups are relevant. In this regard, the law on religious freedom is mainly used to resist the spread of such new cults. The study is then finalized to highlight the existing link between the Russian Orthodox Church traditions and cultural heritage with the estabilishment of a national identity. This symbolic bond is then used to build the basis of a new State with strong religious features in sensitive matters such as the control over births, bridal affairs, cultural and social valuesin a nationalist and sovereignist key.
SOMMARIO: 1. Breve premessa - 2. L’ininterrotto dialogo tra il Governo e le comunità islamiche italiane - 3. Il “Patto di condivisione” della Città di Torino e il “Patto nazionale per un Islam italiano” - 4. L’Italia e le misure di contrasto al terrorismo - 5. Conclusione.
The relationship with Italian Islam: from the proposals of ‘Intesa’ to the ‘Patto nazionale
ABSTRACT: According to statistics, Muslims living in Italy are currently just over 1.6 million. However, despite this significant presence of Muslims on the national territory, the vast world of Islamic associations has not yet managed to sign an Intesa, an agreement that religious minorities can establish to regulate their relations with the Italian state. The reasons why Islam does not have an agreement are mainly two: the absence of an authoritative subject, representative of Italian Islam, able to act as an interlocutor with state institutions and the incompatibility between Islamic cultural values and those of a secular state. Nevertheless, covering all the stages of dialogue between the Italian government and the Islamic associations from the nineties until the conclusion of the Patto nazionale (2017), this work aims to show that the condition of legal vacuum depends on unfounded prejudices towards Islamic culture and on the lack of political will to come to terms with Islam.
SUMMARY: 1. Introduction to the role of UNESCO in defining, respecting and implementing Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms: a general analysis - 2. The right to participate freely in cultural life: the specific UNESCO's involvement in the field of religious rights - 3. IHL Dimension linked to UNESCO's Legislative Powers to Protect the Cultural Heritage in the Event of Armed Conflict or Occupation - 4. UNESCO's Actions to Preserve the Cultural Heritage in Syria and Iraq: A comparative framework - 5. The Legal Status of Jerusalem and the management of the Holy Places: Jerusalem in a Nutshell - 6. UNESCO's past interventions in Jerusalem: a legal basis for future interventions - 7. The Mughrabi Gate Ascent - 8. The 2008 Action Plan for the Safeguarding of the Cultural Heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem - 9. UNESCO, Resolution 200 EX/PX/DR.25.2:“Occupied Palestine” - 10. Conclusions.
ABSTRACT: The current dissertation is mainly going to analyse the original contribution of UNESCO to the development of the concept of cultural rights through the proclamation and elaboration of normative instruments and strategies concerning the right to the protection of and access to the cultural (religious) heritage in contested areas. Since 1967, UNESCO has increasingly played a dominant role in the Old city of Jerusalem: it exercised its power in the field of the preservation of cultural heritage in a contested area, not only through practical plans, but also through legislative instruments and Resolutions. A peculiar political contest is still challenging the full exercise of its powers and the applicability of the main human rights treaty dealing with the preservation of cultural heritage in a contest of competing sovereignty. The essay, drawing on UNESCO's past restoration experiences in ancient (Aleppo, 1992) and post-conflict (Iraq, 2003) areas, focuses on the conciliation role that the Agency may potentially play in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
SOMMARIO: 1. Le possibili implicazioni religiose di una “stretta di mano” - 2. Il caso sottoposto all’esame dei giudici svedesi - 3. La pronunzia del 15 agosto 2018, n. 51, del Tribunale del lavoro svedese e la questione della ricorrenza di una “pratica religiosa” meritevole di tutela - 4. (segue) La verifica dei presupposti di una “discriminazione indiretta” - 5. L’esperienza d’Oltreoceano - 6. Identità religiosa e (dis)uguaglianza di genere - 7. La diversa incidenza, nella fattispecie esaminata, del divieto di discriminazione per motivi religiosi e del principio della parità di genere - 8. Conclusioni: la libertà religiosa della lavoratrice e i margini lasciati alle scelte di politica aziendale della società.
Dealing with the contentious points of the integration (about “forbidden” greetings and principle of non-discrimination)
ABSTRACT: Some Islamic believers adhere to a rule of behavior coming from a particular reading of the traditions concerning the life of Muhammad, so they do not shake hands with people of the other sex outside their own restricted family circle. The present paper analyzes the potential impact of such a choice, if it is carried out in the work context and it infringes specific internal company rules, which require employees to not discriminate against customers on the basis of sex. The Author, in accordance with a recent decision of the Swedish Labor Court, affirms that the limitation of the freedom of the worker can be considered a case of indirect discrimination for religious reasons. However, demanding that the woman abstains from shaking hands with persons of her own sex, as suggested by the Court, is not required by the principle of gender equality, and is not coherent with the very personal nature of the act, according to the Author.
SUMMARY: 1. Introduction - 2. The meaning of State neutrality: some conceptual clarifications - 3. State’s neutrality vis-à-vis religious organizations: neutrality as absence of interference - 4. State’s neutrality vis-à-vis public education: neutrality as objectivity - 5. State neutrality vis-à-vis religious symbols in the public sphere: neutrality as exclusion of religion - 6. ‘Reversed’ patters of neutrality: the disruptive effect of Lautsi v. Italy - 7. Concluding remarks: decoding the patterns of State neutrality in the jurisprudence of the ECtHR.
ABSTRACT: This contribution discusses the notion of State neutrality in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights. State neutrality has become increasingly relevant in the rulings of the ECtHR concerning religious freedom, with the Court explicitly resorting to the idea that States should act as neutral and impartial organizers of religious life within their community. Yet, the conception of State neutrality developed by the Court is inconsistent and often gives rise to criticism. By exploring the Court’s main jurisprudence in the context of religious disputes, religious education in public education, and the display of religious symbols in public spaces, this contribution seeks to disentangle the different understandings of neutrality employed by the Court and to critically engage with them.