2020 Oxford Workshop: Human Dignity and Human Rights

Christian Perspectives and Practices: A Focus on Constitutional and International Law

As a part of a 2020 Oxford Workshop on Human Dignity and Human Rights, scholars met to discuss Christian perspectives on human dignity as manifested in both constitutional and international law. Moderated by Professor Dmytro Vovk, law and religion experts from three continents gathered virtually to explore an approach to dignity-related issues through classic and modern Christian teachings. These scholars covered wide intellectual ground during their time together, presenting on topics that included religious freedom, refugee law, and anti-discrimination measures. Additionally, panelists considered the role Christian churches have played in legislation and judicial decision making both in national and international contexts.

Papers presented at the workshop will be published in a special volume of the BYU Law Review.

Participants and their topics included:
  • Pasquale Annicchino (Bruno Kessler Foundation Centre of Religious Studies), “Friends of the Court. Christian conservative arguments on legal dignity before the U.S. Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights”
  • Mikhail Antonov (Higher School of Economics in Saint Petersburg), “Symphonia v. Rule of Law?”
  • Nicholas Aroney (The University Of Queensland School of Law), “Rise and Fall of Human Dignity”
  • Frederick Mark Gedicks ( J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University), “Dignity and the Overlapping Consensus”
  • Joel Harrison (Sydney Law School, University of Sydney), Christian Accounts of Religious Liberty: Two Views of Conscience
  • Andrea Pin (University of Padua), “Catholicism, Liberalism, and Populism”
  • Christine Venter (Notre Dame University Law School), “Solidarity and Responsibility Sharing: The Confluence of Catholic Social Teaching and International Human Rights”
  • Dmytro Vovk (Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University), moderator