International Center for Law and Religion Studies

ICLRS Associate Director Brett G. Scharffs was a lead participant in the Freedom of Religion or Belief session of the Rothermere conference "US Constitutionalism in Decline?: An International Perspective" in Oxford, United Kingdom, on 28 April 2010. The Rothermere American Institute of Oxford University is an international center dedicated to interdisciplinary and comparative study of the United States. With "finest library of American Politics, History and Literature to be found outside the USA," the Institute promotes understanding of U.S. history, culture, and politics. Rothermere's conference of 26-28 April 2010 brought together constitutional law and political theorists as well as eminent practitioners from a number of jurisdictions to examine competing judicial approaches to four areas of law: (1) Secret Evidence; (2) Socio-economic Rights, Due Process and Equality; (3) Freedom of Religion and Belief; and (4) Balancing Rights and Public Goals. Professor Scharffs joined with Professors Chris McCrudden and Iain McLean and Dr. Scot Peterson "to evaluate the theoretical underpinnings of the right to freedom of religion and belief and to assess comparative judicial approaches to adjudicating limitations of the right," as they considered relevant cases from the United States, the European Court of Human Rights, South Africa, Canada, and the United Kingdom.