Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Harald Christian Scheu
The Ban on Veiling of Women and Religious Freedom in Europe
Jurisprudence 4/2014 Section: Articles Page: 17-23
Keywords: European Court of Human Rights - religious freedom, principle of subsidiarity - face covering in public.
Abstract: In the past decades a significant number of immigrants from different cultural circles entered the European migration area and lawyers have to deal with the problem how, in terms of new immigration processes, to ensure the basic rights of members of culturally different communities. The focus of the new minorities is on the practicing of religion, including the use of a specific way of dressing. The Grand Chamber of the ECHR has taken the occasion of a case relating to the ban of face covering in public to formulate not only crucial considerations on the interpretation and application of religious freedom in the Europe, but also to define the limits of judicial interference in the democratic decision-making at the national level.
