The first quarter of 2010 has been eventful and productive at the International Center for Law and Religion Studies. Already this year Center representatives have traveled to Malaysia, Belgium, Switzerland, Ghana, and most recently to Como, Italy, where the Center co-sponsored the workshop "Law and Religion in Mediterranean Islam" with Università dell’Insubria. Center personnel made presentations in Salt Lake City in February at the J. Reuben Clark Law Society Conference "Service for Good through the Law" and in March participated in a symposium on "The Future of Rights of ... More

Participating via teleconference from the United States, Professor W. Cole Durham, Jr. testified concerning Indonesia's blasphemy law at a session of the Indonesia Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi) in Jakarta on 24 March 2010. Recognized as a world expert in this matter, Professor Durham - who is Director of the International Center ... More

The DC Chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, in association with the International Center for Law and Religion Studies at Brigham Young University, has announced a writing contest open to all student members of the Clark Society. The purpose of the writing competition is to promote quality research and writing by the student members of the Society on the important topic of religious freedom. Winning papers will receive cash awards, and one or more will be published online and possibly in print. Papers must be 2000-3000 words, submitted no later than 1 August 2010. Winners will be ... More

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 ... More

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 UN 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 ... More

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 ... More

The International Center for Law and Religion Studies has announced the 2010 Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, to be held 3-6 October at Brigham Young University's J. Reuben Clark Law School in Provo, Utah. This year's Symposium will address the topic "Religion in Contemporary Legal Systems." Participants will be invited to address such subthemes as "Regulating Religious Speech and Symbols, "Islamic Practice: Differing Experiences," and "The Religion Jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights."

In its first decade as a full-time judicial body, the European Court of Human Rights issued few opinions more provocative than its 2005 decision in the Leyla Sahin v. Turkey "headscarf case." Response to this case brought together a group of international scholars in what would become the "Strasbourg Consortium," a forum for high-level, in-depth, expeditious academic analysis of freedom of religion or belief (FORB) ... More

In response to an appeal filed by the government of Italy on 28 January 2010, a panel of five judges of the European Court of Human Rights announced on 2 March that its recently decided case, Lautsi v. Italy, will be examined by the Grand Chamber.  On 8 April, the date for the Grand Chamber hearing was announced: Wednesday, 30 June. The Court's controversial ruling of 3 November 2009, banning crucifixes in ... More

The United Nations Human Rights Council on 25 March 2010 passed by a narrow margin (20-17, with 8 abstentions) a non-binding resolution condemning "defamation of religion." The resolution, proposed by Pakistani representative Zamir Akram on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), includes a strong condemnation of such activities as Switzerland's recent ban on the construction of minarets on mosques, a ban approved in a nationwide vote last November. In the words ... More