Evropský soud pro lidská práva a islámský šátek. Náboženská svoboda versus sekularismus

As the proportion of migrants from different cultures increases in European countries the number of cultural conflicts concerning e.g. the wearing of religious symbols will increase as well. Those conflicts call for a solution which is in line with the principles of democracy, rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights and freedoms. In this context the European Court of Human Rights plays a fundamental role. In its former judgements of 200 I, 2005 and 2006 the Court reached at the conclusion that the prohibition of the Islamic scarf at schools in Switzerland and Turkey was in line with the principle of religious freedom which is laid down in Article 9 of the European Convention. In 2008 the Court dealt with secularism and religious freedom in France. In the cases of two female pupils excluded from French schools for having worn the Islamic scarf in class the Court found that the principle of secularism is compatible with Article 9 of the Convention. In general, the Court is very reserved as far as religious matters are concerned. Such restrictive interpretation is rather untypical for a Court which understands the Convention as a living instrument.