Law & Religion Conferences 2010
6-10 January “The Freedom of Religion and Belief Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights: Legal, Moral, Political and Religious Perspectives,” a panel at the Annual Meeting of the American Association of Law Schools, held in New Orleans, Louisiana
29-31 January “Religion, Law and Governance in Southeast Asia: Comparative Legal Perspectives,” co-sponsored by the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS, Malaysia), the Faculty of Law of the University of Malaysia (Malaysia), the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of Amity University (India), the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies (Italy), and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University (United States), held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
4-5 February “Religious Diversity and Secular Models in Europe,” RELIGARE Project Kick-off Meeting, co-organized by the University of Leuven (K.U. Leuven – Project Coordinator) and the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS – leader of WP8), held in Leuven and Brussels, Belgium
11-13 February “Service for Good through the Law,” J. Reuben Clark Society Conference – University of Utah Law School, Salt Lake City [Reports and audiovisual presentations, including the presentation of ICLRS representatives Cole Durham, Robert Smith, and Gayla Sorensen – “Strengthening Religious Liberty Around the World” – may be found here.]
26 February “The Future of Rights of Conscience in Health Care: Legal and Ethical Perspectives,” co-sponsored by the J. Reuben Clark Law School, the Ave Maria School of Law, and the University Faculty for Life, held at Brigham Young University [Durham paper: “The Scope of Freedom of Conscience”]
8-9 March Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, Second Annual Session, organized by a coalition of 25 human rights NGOs, Geneva, Switzerland
17-19 March “Culture and Justice in the Contemporary World,” The International Society for African Philosophy and Studies 16th Annual Conference, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
18-19 March “Blessing the Lives of Our Law Students: Opportunities and Challenges,” Religiously Affiliated Law Schools Conference, held at Brigham Young University
5 April International Society Conference, Brigham Young University
6-8 April Workshop on “Law and Religion in Mediterranean Islam,” cosponsored by the Università degli Studi dell’Insubria and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, held in Como, Italy
16-17 April Order of Malta Workshop on Holy Places, Rome, Italy
19-21 April Conference on Freedom of Conscience: International Standards and Experience in National Implementation (the Russian Far East and Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region), in Blagoveshchensk, Russia, organized by the Amur Regional Government, the Judicial Administration of the Amur Region, Human Rights Ombudsman of the Amur Region, the Blagoveshchensk Branch of the Moscow Academy of Free Enterprise, the Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical Institute, the Russian Human Rights Ombudsman’s Expert Council, Russian Association “Ananie,” the Association of Scholars of Religion, the Russian State University for the Humanities, and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University
26-28 April Rothermere American Institute conference “US Constitutionalism in Decline?: An International Perspective”, with participation by Brett G. Scharffs in the Freedom of Religion or Belief session, held at Oxford University, United Kingdom
19-20 May Conference on Anti-Discrimination in Religion, organized by the Department for Church Affairs of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Budapest, Hungary
27-28 May Conference on Religious Discrimination in European Church-State Relations, sponsored by the University of Graz and held in Graz, Austria
31 May – 1 June International Symposium on “The Monotheistic Religions and the Human Liberties,” organized by The Centre for Religious, Canon and Juridicial Studies and Research of the Three Monotheist Religions (Mosaic, Christian, and Islamic), held at Ovidius University of Constanta, Romania
4-5 June The 18th Individual vs. the State Conference on “Religion in the Public Square,” Central European University, Budapest, Hungary
7-9 June Oxford Conference on Law and Religion, organized by the Oxford Society for Law and Religion; Focus on FORB; the Centre for Christianity and Culture at Regent’s Park College, Oxford; the School of Law, University of Bristol; Brunel Law School, Oxford Brookes University; and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, held in Oxford, United Kingdom
11 June Laïcité in Comparative Perspective, roundtable conference held at the Paris campus of St. John’s University, organized by Professor Mark Movsesian and including scholars from France, the United States, Italy, and Spain, including Brett G. Scharffs
25 July – 1 August The International Academy of Comparative Law and the American Society of Comparative Law present The XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law / Le XVIIIe Congrès International de droit comparé, topic Religion and the Secular State, W. Cole Durham, Jr., and Javier Martínez-Torrón, General Reporters, Washington, DC
30-31 July Conference on Religion and the Secular State: Comparative Perspectives, organized by the Interdisciplinary Program in Law and Religion, Columbus School of Law, Catholic University of America and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, on the Occasion of the 18th International Congress of Comparative Law, Washington, DC
5-6 August Conference “Democracy and Religious Freedom: Old and New Challenges,” organized by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, in Kyiv, Ukraine
8 August Durham presentation on “First Amendment Religion Clauses: Universal Norm or Peculiarly American?” at the American Bar Association Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California
14-19 August Law and Religion Certification Program, Beijing, People’s Republic of China
20-22 August Conference on “Religion, Law, Ethnicity and Harmony,” Beijing, People’s Republic of China
6-10 September IRLA Meeting of Experts, held in Amman, Jordan
22-25 September X Coloquio Religión y Derecho del Trabajo, with participation by Gary Doxey, sponsored by El Consorcio Latinoamericano de Libertad Religiosa, Lima, Perú
3-5 October Seventeenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, “Religion in Contemporary Legal Systems,” Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah
7 October Religious Liberty Award Dinner and CLE, co-sponsored by the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the DC Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Washington, DC
5 November Religious Legal Theory Conference: Religion in Law, Law in Religion, Brett G. Scharffs was moderator of a session on Comparative Law and Religion, held at St. John’s School of Law in New York City
15 November “Religious Freedom in Russia: The Misuse of the Law on Extremism against Religious Minorities,” hosted by MEP Dennis de Jong & co-organized with Human Rights without Frontiers, held at the European Parliament, Brussels
16-17 November International Archon Religious Freedom Conference, “Religious Freedom: Turkey’s Bridge To The European Union,” held at the European Parliament, Brussels
20 November INFORM Seminar XLV: “State Reactions to New Religions,” held at Clement House, London School of Economics, UK
9-10 December OSCE/ODIHR Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting: Freedom of Religion and Conscience, Vienna
Professor Durham Participates in OSCE Meeting in Vienna, 9-10 December 2010
Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and member of the OSCE/ODIHR Panel of Experts on Religious Freedom has attended the Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on Freedom of Religion or Belief of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) held at the Hofburg Conference Center in Vienna on 9-10 December 2010. In a meeting organized jointly by Kazakhstan’s OSCE Chairmanship and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), representatives from the 56 OSCE participating states, from civil society, and from international organizations reviewed the current status of religious freedom in the OSCE area and discuss how to promote freedom of religion or belief and to respond to emerging challenges….
Professor Scharffs Featured Guest on Freedom’s Ring Radio
Professor Brett G. Scharffs, ICLRS Associate Director, was the featured guest on two radio interviews conducted 17 November 2010 on Freedom’s Ring Radio, a nationally syndicated weekly broadcast produced by the Church State Council in cooperation with the North American Religious Liberty Association.
The first broadcast was a twenty-minute interview about a recent case before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church (Metropolitan…
Professor Durham Speaks at Conferences in Brussels and UK, November 2010
Professor Cole Durham spoke at the conference “Religious Freedom in Russia: The Misuse of the Law on Extremism against Religious Minorities,” hosted by MEP Dennis de Jong & co-organized with Human Rights without Frontiers and held at the European Parliament, Brussels, on 15 November 2010. Other…
Religious Legal Theory Conference, St. John’s School of Law, 5 November 2010
ICLRS Associate Director Professor Brett G. Scharffs was the moderator of a session on Comparative Law and Religion at a conference held at St. John’s School of Law in New York City. The Religious Legal Theory Conference: Religion in Law, Law in Religion was held on 5 November 2010. The conference featured plenary addresses from Professor Steven Smith from the University of San Diego Law School and Professor Steven Shiffrin from Cornell University…
Senator Joseph Lieberman Receives First International Religious Liberty Award, October 2010
The Video Recording of Senator Lieberman’s remarks is available here: Part 1 and Part 2.
In an award dinner held 7 October 2010 in Washington, D.C., Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut became the first recipient of the International Religious Liberty Award, given by the DC Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and its affiliated student chapters in connection with the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. The award was given in recognition of Senator Lieberman’s outstanding contributions to the promotion and preservation of religious freedom. Among his many other efforts in this regard, Senator Lieberman was a cosponsor of the United States’ 1998 International Religious Freedom Act, which created three cooperative entities for monitoring and responding…
The Seventeenth Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, “Religion in Contemporary Legal Systems,” 3-5 October 2010
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies sponsored the 2010 Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 3-5 October at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School in Provo, Utah. This year’s Symposium addressed the topic “Religion in Contemporary Legal Systems” and included presentations on “Islam in Contemporary Legal Systems,” “Religion, Law, and the Encounter with Secularism,” and “The Challenge of Protecting Religious Sensitivities.” For more information please consul the Symposium 2010 section of the Annual Symposium page of this website.
10th Annual Conference on Religion and Labor Law – Peru, September 2010
The ICLRS was pleased to help sponsor the 10th Annual Conference of the Consorcio Latinoamericano de Libertad Religiosa (Latin American Consortium for Religious Liberty). To celebrate its first decade, the “Consorcio” returned to the city of its first international conference, Lima, Peru. Professor Gary Doxey, ICLRS Associate Director, participated in the conference, which took place 22-25 September 2010. Several scholars from all over Latin America and Spain participated. Long-time ICLRS advisor and friend, Professor Silvio Ferrari of Milan, Italy, was also present. He, along with Professor Cole Durham who was not present, was instrumental in providing outside help and encouragement for the creation of the Consorcio ten years earlier.
ICLRS has had a long-standing relationship with the Consorcio and has provided support and collaboration since its inception. The Consorcio has become the…
Professors Durham and Scharffs Participate in First-Ever Training Program on Religion and the Rule of Law at Peking University – August 2010
ICLRS Director Cole Durham and Associate Director Brett Scharffs were among a dozen foreign scholars invited by Peking University to participate in a first-of-its kind summer training program on religion and the rule of law held 3-22 August 2010 in Beijing. The program was sponsored by the Center for Constitutional and Administrative Law at Peking University, under the direction of Professor Zhang Qianfan, and the Pu Shi Institute for Social Sciences, whose director Liu Peng is one of China’s leading experts on religion in America. The program brought more than sixty Chinese scholars from around the country to Beijing for an intensive course on comparative and international law…
Professor Durham Presents at ABA Annual Meeting – San Francisco, 8 August 2010
W. Cole Durham, Jr., Susa Young Gates Professor of Law and Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, spoke at the 8 August 2010 afternoon session of the Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association in San Francisco. The topic of the session…
Democracy and Religious Freedom: Old and New Challenges – Kyiv, 5-6 August 2010
Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. and Professor Elizabeth A. Sewell, Director and Associate Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, joined a large number of scholars from across Ukraine and Russia, regional religious affairs officials from Ukraine, and scholars from Western Europe for a conference “Democracy and Religious Freedom: Old and New Challenges,” held in Kyiv on 5 & 6 August 2010. The conference was co-sponsored by the Center in association with the Department of Religion, Institute of…
Religion and the Secular State Discussed at International Conferences in Washington, D.C. – July – August 2010
Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr., Director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University and Professor Javier Martinez-Torrón of the Law Faculty of Complutense University in Madrid and member of the ICLRS Academic Advisory Board participated in The XVIIIth International Congress of Comparative Law, held from July 25th through August 1st 2010 in Washington, D.C. The Congress, which is organized by the International Academy of Comparative Law…
Professor Scharffs Participates in Laïcité Conference – Paris, 11 June 2010
ICLRS Associate Director Professor Brett Scharffs participated in a roundtable conference, “Laïcité in Comparative Perspective,” held at the Paris campus of St. John’s University on 11 June 2010. The conference focused on contemporary issues of laïcité in France and comparative perspectives on religion-state relationships. The Conference, organized by Professor Mark Movsesian and including scholars from France, the United States, Italy, and Spain, was the inaugural conference of St. John’s University’s Center…
Oxford Conference on Law and Religion – United Kingdom, 7-9 June 2010
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University was among the institutional organizers of the Oxford Conference on Law and Religion, held from 7-9 June 2010 on the historic grounds of Balliol College, Oxford. Under the organizational leadership of Dr. Peter Petkoff, the three-day event was sponsored by the Oxford Society for Law and Religion, the University of Bristol School of Law, the International Consortium for Law and Religion Studies at Milan, and the Strasbourg Consortium. Other institutional supporters included Focus on FORB, the Centre for Christianity and Culture at Regent’s Park College, Brunel Law School, Oxford Brookes University…
FORB Conferences in Graz, Constanta, and Budapest – May & June 2010
Dr. David M. Kirkham, ICLRS Senior Fellow and Regional Advisor for the European Union and the Council of Europe, represented the Center at four major conferences in Europe in May and June 2010.
Dr. Kirkham presented a paper, “Religious Intolerance and Discrimination: Reflections on Causes and Contermeasures,” at the conference “Religious Discrimination in Selected European States,” held 27-28 May 2010 at Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria. Organizers of the conference included Univ.Prof.Dr. Christian Brünner of the Graz University Law Faculty, Prof. DDDr.hc. Gerhard Besier of the Philosophy Faculty of the University of Dresden, Willy Fautré of Human Rights without…
ICLRS Participates in Strasbourg Consortium Meeting – Oxford, UK, 8 June 2010
The International Center for Law and Religion Studies was among the institutional members of Strasbourg Consortium to participate in a meeting of the Consortium held in conjunction with the Oxford Conference on Law and Religion, which took place 7-9 June 2010 at Balliol College, Oxford. The Reverend Dr. Ralph Waller, Principal of Harris Manchester College, invited sixteen member representatives and leaders of the Consortium to convene a working meeting…
Law and Religion Scholars Network Conference – Cardiff, Wales, 11 May 2010
The Law and Religion Scholars Network (LARSN), an initiative led by the Centre for Law and Religion at Cardiff University, Wales, held its 2010 Conference and Meeting at the Cardiff Law School on 11 May 2010. The Conference was attended by more than fifty delegates, and more than twenty academic papers were presented, covering such diverse topics as religious symbols in schools, the employment status of ministers of religion, the Anglican Ordinariate, the new Public Sector Equality Duty and Religious Order charities. The concluding event of the day was a meeting to assess LARSN progress and plan for the future of the Network. Among the past successes noted was the development of the Case Database featuring law and religion judgments delivered by domestic courts, the European Court of Justice, and the European Court of Human Rights. Plans for the next year include the second LARSN doctoral students’ conference which will take place in December at Oxford Brookes and a further LARSN conference in Cardiff in May 2011.
The Law and Religion Scholars Network “is designed to bring together for the first time academics who are interested in all areas of law and religion: national and international law affecting religion and religious law.” The network arose out of the gradual development” over the last twenty years of law and religion as an area of academic study. According to the LARSN website, “Controversies surrounding the wearing of Islamic dress, Catholic adoption agencies, and the status of Sharia underscore the growing topicality and importance of law and religion.”
Professor Brett G. Scharffs at Rothermere Conference – Oxford, 26-28 April 2010
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…
“Freedom of Conscience” Conference – Blagoveshchensk, Russia, 19-21 April 2010
The X international academic conference “Freedom of Conscience: International Standards and Experience in National Implementation,” with emphasis upon the Russian Far East and Countries of the Asia-Pacific Region, was held in Blagoveshchensk, Russia, 19-21 April 2010. Bringing together government officials, scholars, journalists, and religious leaders from across Russia, predominantly from the Russian Far East, the conference raised issues of national and international religious freedom norms and the interplay of these with government and education policy. Key conference participants included Andrei Sebentsov, Mikhail Odintsov, Vladimir Ryakovsky, and Kimitaka Matsuzato, and ICLRS Associate Director Elizabeth A. Sewell. The conference was organized and sponsored by the Government of the Amur Region; the Russian Federation Ministry of Justice, Division for Amur Region; Human Rights Ombudsman for Amur Region; Russia-Wide Public Organization “Association of Researchers of Religion”; Russia-Wide Public Organization “Znanie” Society; Blagoveshchensk Division of the Economic Moscow Academy of Entrepreneurship under the direction of the Moscow Government; Blagoveshchensk State Pedagogical University; and the International Center for Law and Religion Studies.
Professor Sewell presented a paper “Understanding Freedom of Conscience: Recent Developments in the European Court of Human Rights.” Among the many conference participants unable to arrive because of travel restrictions caused by the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland was ICLRS Director W. Cole Durham, Jr. His paper, “Freedom of Religion in the U.S. and the European Court of Human Rights: Comparative Perspectives,” was read at the conference. Professor Sewell reports in spite of the reduced attendance, the conference was successful, with fruitful dialogue helping to develop and support the limited but growing number of scholars dealing with religious issues in this vast part of Russia.
“Culture and Justice in the Contemporary World,” 16th Annual Conference of ISAPS – Ghana, 17-19 March 2010
The 16th Annual Conference of the International Society for African Philosophy and Studies (ISPAS) took place in The Great Hall of the University of Ghana in Legon on 17-19 March 2010. The conference, “Culture and Justice in the Contemporary World,” was organized in collaboration with the University of Ghana’s Philosophy Department and its Faculty of Law under the co-chairmanship of Professors Kofi Quashigah (Law) and Helen Lauer (Philosophy). The conference examined “the validity of international standards in our multicultural and diverse world,” asking the question, “Is justice possible in a world where there are diverse standards, cultures, values and other socio-cultural norms?” A plenary address at the conference was delivered by the Honourable Samia Nkrumah…
Workshop “Law and Religion in Mediterranean Islam” – Como, Italy, 6-8 April 2010
In keeping with its ongoing Islamic initiatives, the International Center for Law and Religion Studies co-sponsored with the Università degli Studi dell’Insubria the international workshop “Law and Religion in Mediterranean Islam” in Como, Italy, from 6-8 April 2010. An important outcome of the workshop will be a book on the conference topic. Attending the conference were Center directors W. Cole Durham, Jr., and Gary B. Doxey, as well as International Advisory Council members Duane and Erlyn Madsen and David and Linda Nearon. Delegates, who were selected for their expertise, delivered reports on law and religion in their countries, and each will contribute a chapter to the book. Experts presenting were Abu Moussa Ramadan (Palestine), Faisal Al Rfouh (Jordan), Jacques El-Hakim (Syria), Gazi Gherairi (Tunisia), Talip Kucukcan (Turkey), Omar El Kadi (Egypt), Riyad Fakhri (Morocco), Cherif Bennadji (Algeria), and Ahmed Gehani (Lybia). Discussion…
Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy – Geneva, 8-9 March 2010
International Law and Religion Center Director and member of the OSCE Panel of Experts on Religion or Belief W. Cole Durham, Jr. participated in a panel discussion during the Geneva Summit for Human Rights, Tolerance and Democracy, held 8-9 March 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. Organized by an international coalition of human rights NGOs, the Summit was designed to coincide with annual meetings of the United Nations Human Rights Council and was structured “to offer dissidents and human rights activists from around the world a global platform and forum to share their personal struggles, their fight for freedom and equality, and their vision for how to bring change.”…
2010 Washington Human Rights Summit: Affirming Fundamental Freedoms
February 2010 – Washington, D.C.
The 2010 Washington Human Rights Summit: Affirming Fundamental Freedoms, held in Washington, D.C. on 17-19 February 2010, brought together human rights advocates with U.S. policy makers, officials from other democratic governments, and influential figures from the world of media, think tanks, universities, NGOs, and human rights and freedom of expression activists. The aim of the summit was to produce an action plan for the Obama Administration, other governments, and multilateral institutions in defense of democratic values and fundamental human rights, and to give government officials the opportunity to hear from activists currently engaged in frontline struggles for freedom and democracy. For more information about the summit, please consult the links below.
“Religion, Law and Governance in Southeast Asia: Comparative Legal Perspectives” – Kuala Lumpur, 29-31 January 2010
Representatives from the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at BYU, including International Advisory Council Chair Duane Madsen, ICLRS Historian Erlyn Madsen, IAC member Linda Nearon, and ICLRS Managing Director Robert T. Smith, participated in a very successful conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, during 29-31 January 2010. Addressing “Religion, Law and Governance in Southeast Asia: Comparative Legal Perspectives,” the conference was co-sponsored by the Center in cooperation with the International Institute of Advanced Islamic Studies (IAIS), the Faculty of Law of the University of Malaysia, and the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of Amity University (India). The conference Keynote Address by YAB Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak was delivered…
Annual AALS Meeting Section, 6 January 2010: The Freedom of Religion and Belief Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights
ICLRS Associate Director Professor Brett G. Scharffs served as panel chair and moderator of the Section on Law and Religion on the fifth day of the annual meeting of the Association of American Law Schools, the largest gathering of law faculty in the world, held in 2010 in New Orleans from 6-10 January. Co-Sponsored by Sections on Islamic Law, and Jewish Law, the session addressed the topic “The Freedom of Religion and Belief Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights: Legal, Moral, Political and Religious Perspectives.” Also participating in the session were Center Director Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr.; ICLRS Academic Advisory Board Member Professor Gerhard Robbers of the University of Trier, Germany; Professor Zachary Calo of the Valparaiso University School of Law; and Professor Peter Danchin of the University of Maryland School of Law. Unable to attend but providing papers for the session were Professor Carolyn Evans of the University of Melbourne…