The Protections for Religious Rights: Law and Practice

• The first book to comprehensively tackle the legal protections for religious rights
• Addresses the key standards and provisions through coverage of a substantial body of domestic and international case law, providing an essential reference for practitioners, academics, and students alike
• Provides guidance on practice and procedure as well as substantive law
• Includes relevant sections of domestic statutes, constitutional provisions and international instruments, as well as other selected appendix materials

The Protections for Relgious Rights is the first practitioner work to offer a full and systematic treatment of the law as it pertains to religious rights in the UK and abroad. A practrical working aid to a sensitive and important area of increasing litigation and public debate, this text examines the applicable legal instruments, considers the current state of the law, and reviews domestic, comparative, and international case law to provide a comprehensive reference resource that informs on all matters of significance in this area. 

The protections for religious righs in the Uk are rooted in international law and the English common law. Religious conflicts have arisen when communitites have perceived that their religious rights have been targeted for suppression, or ignored. Despite international human rights instruments which are intended to protect such rights, many courts have adopted a narrow and restrictive approach towards these aspects. 

With practical evaluations of the relevant international instruments which inform domestic law in the UK, the important substantive areas of employment, education, family, and goods and services, are addressed specifically in dedicated chapters. Comparative perspectives are also considered in an extensive chapter offering global treatment of legislation and authorities, drawing on expertise from the United States, Canada, South Africa, Australia, India, Ireland, New Zealand, and Turkey. Other areas where protections for religious rights are engaged are addressed in a final chapter - including coverage of places of worship, criminal law, planning, charitable status, prisons, immigration, and animal rights - making this text a complete resource for all concerned or interested in this area of law. Finally, a conclusion draws together some general observations commenting on recent legal developments and identifying possible future change. 

The text includes an appendix of selected materials for easy reference to relevant extracts from international treaties, constitutions and domestic statutes. 

Readership: Practitioners, the judiciary, academics, and students who work in the areas of public law, human rights law, employment law, education law, public international law, and commercial law. Religious organisations and the public bodies that contract and deal with them.