New Religious Movements and Freedom of Thought, Conscience and Religion in the European Convention on Human Rights’ Jurisprudence

Abstract

This paper critically examines the attitude of the Council of Europe through the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights in relation to New Religious Movements (NRMs) sometimes referred to as ‘cults’. On the whole, in contemporary Europe, NMRs seem to have been particularly vulnerable to persecution especially since the collapse of the Soviet Empire and the subsequent integration of many Eastern European states into the Council of Europe. Even though the Strasbourg organs initially limited religious freedoms to the individual, it now accepts that a religious organization also enjoys the right to religious freedom as representative of its members. In spite of this, by and large, NRMs have been denied recognition as bona fide religious institutions in Europe. This is mainly due to the fact that the European Court allows its member states a wide margin of appreciation in such matters. The Church of Scientology has been used as an example to illustrate the challenges faced by such organizations striving for recognition. This paper also considers the approach adopted by the British courts which represent a more moderate and measured approach towards NRMs

Keywords

• New religious movements,European Court of Human Rights,Scientology,Freedom of conscience,Freedom of religion

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