Law and Religion: Selected Problems in Human Rights Seminar

3 units

One of the major modern developments in human rights law is a phenomenon can be described as globalization and judicialization of individual (human) rights. Globalization means the global spread of certain values and concepts which have gained increasing universal acceptance and the convergence of the understanding of human rights around the world. Judicialization refers to the growing number of jurisdictions (national, regional and global) deciding human rights cases. It gives rise to the emergence of common case-law on human rights. The object of this course is to examine this process as seen from the perspective of a judge. The course includes, as its first part, a comparative presentation of different systems protecting individual rights as well as of major techniques (like proportionality, subsidiarity and margin of appreciation) used by courts when deciding human rights cases. The second part will examine three selected examples how similar cases have been decided by different European courts, particularly by the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The cases will deal with: (1) sexual orientation (in particular, the problem of same-sex partnerships and marriages); (2) the right to life (in particular, the problem of assisted suicide); and (3) religious freedoms (in particular, the presence of religious symbols in public space). 3 units