Religious Freedom in Flux: The European Court of Human Rights Grapples with Ethnic, Cultural, Religious, and Legal Pluralism

Abstract

This article examines the growing influences of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and controversies arising as a result of the Court’s movement toward establishing itself as a de facto Supreme Court of member nations of the Council of Europe (CoE) in the area of human and civil rights, including religious freedom. Responses to criticisms of the Court are considered, as is the growing problem of some member states refusing to enforce rulings of the Court. Some recent cases, mostly involving Islam, that seem to demonstrate a growing recognition of the ethnic, cultural, and legal pluralism that exists within the expanded CoE are examined. Also discussed is the apparent two-track approach the Court has taken as a result of having to manage religious freedom within such a diverse group of member nations.