Report by Jarvis Yau
The 2014 Summer Certificate Training Program on Religion and Rule of Law was held in Beijing, China from July 28 to August 8 this year. The event was co-organized by Pu Shi Institute for Social Science, Peking University School of Law, and the Beijing Foreign Studies University School of Law. The International Center for Law and Religion Studies and the Institute for Global Engagement have also sent representatives to provide assistance at the training program. Many prominent scholars around the world were invited to speak at the program and share the results of their research.
The training covers a wide range of topics including Religion and Education, Business and Religion Freedom, Religion in Public Life and Politics etc. Both English and Chinese versions of the casebook Law and Religion: National, International, and Comparative Perspectives that is written by BYU Law faculty, Professor Cole W. Durham and Professor Brett G. Scharffs, were used in the program. This event was mostly conducted in English with sequential Chinese translation provided. There were more than 60 people in the training, and they came from a very diverse background; many of the participants were university professors, and some of them were religious leaders, researchers, and judges. Students were awarded a certificate upon the completion of the training; many of these participants have expressed that the program has enticed them to further research and explore the field of law and religion.