The Legality of Religious Symbols in European Schools

Abstract

The European Court of Human Rights, established in 1959 as the unit of the Council of Europe, is the judicial authority that resolves individual, legal personality and international problems within the scope of fundamental rights defined in the 'European Convention on Human Rights' and other protocols. Historically, the European Court of Human Rights has taken various decisions that are considered within the scope of freedom of thought, conscience and religion. The Court defines in its decision, and in particular, what it can be judged within the context of the religious symbol, from a secular point of view. The court recognized the right to freedom of belief and religion, on the other hand, described this right as a declaration of belief in public. The study was designed with a 'conceptual screening model' approaching religious symbols on the basis of freedom of religion and belief. Although this study seems to be in essence a literature review, conceptual screening differs from the literature review method in that it examines the different aspects of a concept within the scope of different science and disciplines. The purpose of this study is to determine the attitude of the European Court of Human Rights to the religious symbols of schools. As a consequence of this work, the nature and scope of local and forbidden legal initiatives against the growing religious symbolism in European schools over the last years have been determined. However, the place of religion in European educational systems and the "church-state relationship" within the social system is another consequence of this study. This study also specifies that the decisions of the courts should be shaped to express religious beliefs and traditions freely in the public sphere. 

Keywords

• European court of human rights
• Freedom of religion
• Freedom of belief
• Secularism
• Religious symbolism

Avrupa Okullarında Dini Simgelerin Yasallığı

Öz

1959 yılında Avrupa Konseyine bağlı olarak kurulan Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi ve diğer protokollerle belirlenmiş temel haklar kapsamında birey, tüzel kişilik ve devletlerarasındaki sorunları çözümleyen yargı merciidir. Tarihsel olarak Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi: düşünce, vicdan ve din özgürlüğü kapsamında değerlendirilen çeşitli kararlar almıştır. Mahkeme söz konusu kararlarında ve özellikle nelerin dini simge kapsamında değerlendirilebileceğini laik bir bakış açısıyla tanımlamaktadır. Mahkeme, bir taraftan dini inanca sahip olma hakkını tasdik etmekte, bir taraftan da bu hakkı kamusal alanda inancı beyan etme hakkı olarak nitelemektedir. Çalışma dini simgelere, din ve inanç özgürlüğü temelinde yaklaşan kavramsal tarama modeliyle desenlenmiştir. Bu çalışma özünde alanyazın taraması gibi görülse de alanyazın tarama yönteminden farklı olarak kavramsal tarama, bir kavramın farklı yönlerini değişik bilim ve disiplinlerin çalışma alanları kapsamında incelemektir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesinin, okullarda bulunan dini simgelere karşı tutumunu belirlemektir. Bu çalışmanın bir sonucu olarak, son yıllarda Avrupa okullarında giderek artan dini simgeciliğe karşı yürütülen yerel ve yasakçı yasal girişimlerin doğası ve kapsamı belirlenmiştir. Bununla birlikte, Avrupa eğitim sistemlerinde dinin yeri ve sosyal sistem içinde “kilise – devlet ilişkisi” bu çalışmanın başka bir sonucudur. Ayrıca çalışma, mahkemelerin kararlarını, dini inanç ve geleneklerin kamusal alanda özgürce beyan edilmesi yönünde şekillendirmeleri gerekliliğini de belirlemektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Avrupa İnsan Hakları Mahkemesi
• Din özgürlüğü
• İnanç özgürlüğü
• Laiklik
• Dini Simgecilik

References

1. AlSayyad, Nezar ve Manuel Castells. Muslim Europe or Euro-Islam: politics, culture, and citizenship in the age of globalization. Lanham: Lexington Books, 2002.
2. Asad, Talal. Genealogies of religion: Discipline and reasons of power in Christianity and Islam. London: JHU Press, 2009. Auslander, Leora. “Bavarian Crucifixes and French Headscarves Religious Signs and the Postmodern European State.” Cultural Dynamics 12, no. 3 (2000): 283-309.
3. Baltacı, Ali. “A Comparison of Syrian Migrant Students in Turkey and Germany: Entrepreneurial Tendencies and Career Expectations.” European Journal of Educational Research 6, no. 1 (2014): 15-27.
4. Baltacı, Ali ve Ali Balcı. “Complexity Leadership: A Theorical Perspective”. International Journal of Educational Leadership and Management 6, no. 1 (2017): 30-58.
5. Bretscher, Fabienne. The Swiss Judiciary and International Human Rights Bodies: A Closer Look at Muslim Religious Practices in Public Schools. Zurich: University of Zurich, 2016.
6. Burki, Shahid Javed. “The Rise of Extremist Islam.” Rising Powers and Global Governance içinde, yazan Shahid Javed Burki, 139-159. Maryland: Palgrave Macmillan US, 2017.
7. Calo, Zachary R. “Secularism and the European Court of Human Rights.” Journal of Law and Religion 26, no. 1 (2010): 261-280.
8. Caygill, Howard ve Alan Scott. “The basic law versus the basic norm? The case of the Bavarian crucifix order.” Political Studies 44, no.3 (1996): 505-516.

9. Cesari, Jocelyne. When Islam and democracy meet: Muslims in Europe and in the United States. New York: Springer, 2004. Dorondel, Ștefan. “Orthodoxy, nationalism, and local identities: a Romanian case study.” Ethnologia Balkanica 06 (2002): 117-144.
10. Dunlap, Knight. Religion: Its function in human life: A study of religion from the point of view of psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill publications, 1946.
11. Eliade, Mircea. Patterns in comparative religion. Lincoln: Universiy of Nebraska, 1996.
12. Evans, Malcolm D. “From cartoons to crucifixes: current controversies concerning the freedom of religion and the freedom of expression before the European Court of Human Rights.” Journal of Law and Religion 26, no. 1 (2010): 345-370.
13. Fidan, Tuncer ve Inci Oztürk. “The relationship of the creativity of public and private school teachers to their intrinsic motivation and the school climate for innovation.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences 195 (2015): 905-914.
14. Gordon, Wendy J. “A Property Right in Self-Expression: Equality and Individualism in the Natural Law of Intellectual Property.” The Yale Law Journal 102, no. 7 (1993): 1533-1609.
15. Horváth, Gizela ve Rozalia Bako. “Religious icons in Romanian schools: text and context.” Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies 8 no. 24 (2009): 189-205.
16. Jaspers, Karl. Felsefeye Giriş, çeviren: Mehmet Akalın, İstanbul: Dergâh Yayınları, 1981.
17. Jenkins, Philip. The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity. Oxford: Oxford University Press., 2011.
18. Jones, Emma. “Fair Access Versus Religious Freedom: A Difficult Balance.” Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 5, no.2 (2016): 359-364.
19. Joppke, Christian. “Pluralism vs. Pluralism.” Religion, Secularism, and Constitutional Democracy içinde, yazan Jean L. Cohen ve Cecile Laborde, 89-112. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.
20. Kaplan, Benjamin J. Divided by faith: Religious conflict and the practice of toleration in early modern Europe. Boston: Harvard University Press, 2009.
21. Langer, Susanne K. Philosophy in a new key: A study in the symbolism of reason, rite, and art. London: Harvard University Press, 2009.
22. Lewis, Tom. “What not to wear: religious rights, the European Court, and the margin of appreciation.” International and Comparative Law Quarterly 56, no. 2 (2007): 395-414.
23. Lock, Tobias. “Of Crucifixes and Headscarves: Religious Symbols in German Schools.” Law, Religious Freedoms and Education in Europe, yazan Myriam Hunter-Henin, 347-369. Farham England: Ashgate Pub., 2011.
24. Marshall, Jill. “Conditions for freedom? European human rights law and the Islamic headscarf debate.” Human Rights Quarterly 30, no. 3 (2008): 631-654.
25. Martin, David. The future of Christianity: Reflections on violence and democracy, religion and secularization. New York: Routledge, 2016.
26. Miedema, Siebren. “Contexts, debates and perspectives of religion in education in Europe.” Contexts, deReligion and Education in Europe: Developments, contexts and debates, yazan Robert Jackson, Siebren Miedema, Wolfram Weisse ve Jean-Paul Willaime, 267-283. München: Waxmann, 2007.
27. Modood, Tariq. “2011 Paul Hanly Furfey LectureIs There a Crisis of Secularism in Western Europe?” Sociology of Religion 73, no. 2 (2012): 130-149.
28. Modood, Tariq. “State-Religion Connections and Multicultural Citizenship.” Religion, Secularism, and Constitutional Democracy, yazan Jean L. Cohen ve Cecile Laborde, 182-203. New York: Columbia University Press, 2016.
29. O'Brien, Peter. The Muslim Question in Europe: Political Controversies and Public Philosophies. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2016.
30. Oliva, Javier García. “Religious Dress Codes in the United Kingdom.” Religion in Public Spaces: A European Perspective içinde, yazan Silvio Ferrari ve Sabrina Pastorelli, 217. London: Routledge, 2016.
31. Reichard, Gladys Amanda. Navaho religion: a study of symbolism. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2014.
32. Romero, Alicia Cebada. “The European Court of Human Rights and Religion: Between Christian Neutrality and the Fear of Islam.” NZJPIL 11 (2013): 75.
33. Ronchi, Paolo. “Crucifixes, margin of appreciation and consensus: the Grand Chamber ruling in Lautsi v Italy.” Ecclesiastical Law Journal 13, no. 03 (2011): 287-297.
34. Rowe, Emma E. “Politics, religion and morals: the symbolism of public schooling for the urban middle-class identity.” International Studies in Sociology of Education, 2016: 1-15.
35. Said, Edward W. Covering Islam: How the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world (Fully revised edition). London: Random House, 2008.
36. Schreiner, Peter. “Religious education in the European context.” Crossings and Crosses: Borders, Educations, and Religions in Northern Europe, yazan Jenny Berglund ve Peter Thomas Lundén, 139-154. Boston: CPI Books Gmbh, 2015.
37. Scolnicov, Anat. “On a Wing and a Prayer: Indirect Religious Discrimination in the European Court of Human Rights.” Oxford Journal of Law and Religion 5, no. 1 (2016): 158-161.
38. Shadid, Wasif ve P. Sjoerd Van Koningsveld. “Muslim dress in Europe: debates on the headscarf.” Journal of Islamic Studies 16, no.1 (2005): 35-61.
39. Squatrito, Theresa. “Domestic legislatures and international human rights law: Legislating on religious symbols in Europe.” Journal of Human Rights 15, no. 4 (2016): 550-570.
40. Steiner, Henry J., Philip Alston ve Ryan Goodman. International human rights in context: law, politics, morals: text and materials. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
41. Taylor, Paul M. Freedom of religion: UN and European human rights law and practice. London: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
42. Weber, Michel. “Symbolism, Its Meaning and Effect: The Universal Algebra of Culture” Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy 12, no.1 (2016): 350-377.
43. Weiler, Joseph HH. “Lautsi: crucifix in the classroom redux.” European journal of international law Journal europeen de droit international 21, no. 1 (2010): 1-6.
44. Zoethout, Carla M. “Religious symbols in the public school classroom: a new way to tackle a knotty problem.” Religion and Human Rights 6, no. 3 (2011): 285-290.