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An Article in the Series: Faith in the Courts: Global Perspectives on Law and Religion

As one of its goals, the Harvard ILJ strives to publish timely and relevant scholarship that addresses current developments and issues in international, comparative, and foreign law. In that spirit, the ILJ is proud to publish this article series "Faith in the Courts: Global Perspectives on Law and Religion." Through contributions from academics, judges, practitioners, and other scholars, the articles in this series will explore questions related to religious freedom and accommodation between religion and state in a variety of international and comparative law contexts.

Introduction*

For centuries, religious liberty in Britain existed as a broad-ranging but principally negative freedom at common law. Individuals were permitted to do as they pleased in matters of faith, unless the law stated otherwise. Religious liberty, thus conceived, was more passive toleration of religion than any active promotion of religious freedom as a fundamental right. All that changed on October 2, 2000 when the Human Rights Act 1998 (“HRA”) – the United Kingdom’s de facto Bill of Rights – came into full force and brought with it Article 9 of the European Convention of Human Rights (“ECHR”).

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* This excerpt does not include citations. To read the entire article, including supporting notes, please download the PDF.

Ayelet Shachar: Entangled: State, Religion, and the Family
Nicholas Hatzis: Neutrality, Proselytism, and Religious Minorities at the European Court of Human Rights and the U.S. Supreme Court
Ran Hirschl: The Rise of Constitutional Theocracy
Samantha Knights: Sacred Space and the City: Religious Buildings and Noise Pollution
Carolyn Evans and Beth Gaze: Between Religious Freedom and Equality: Complexity and Context