New and Updated Globalex Research Guides on Foreign and International Law Topics

GlobaLex, a very good electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, has published and updated a number of research guides recently:

• Artificial Intelligence and Human Rights: Four Realms of Discussion, Research, and Annotated Bibliography
• UPDATE: A Review of the Progressive Development of International Human Rights Framework on Capital Punishment
• UPDATE: Religious Legal Systems in Comparative Law – A Guide to Introductory Research
• UPDATE: A Research Guide to Cases and Materials on Terrorism

Canadian Federation of Library Associations Statement on Quebec's Anti Face-Covering Law

The Canadian Federation of Library Associations (CFLA) has issued a statement on Quebec's Bill 62 on "religious neutrality" (essentially an anti-niqab bill):

"The Canadian Federation of Library Associations / Fédération canadienne des associations de bibliothèques (CFLA-FCAB) maintains that diversity and inclusion is a core value of libraries and central to our country’s identity. Libraries have a responsibility to contribute to a culture that recognizes diversity and fosters social inclusion."

"Policy and regulation that restrict freedom of expression and belief conflict with the fundamental right of Canadians of access to information and resources, regardless of, race, religion or gender."

"CFLA-FCAB supports our Québec colleagues in ensuring that libraries remain open, inclusive and welcoming places for all."

More on the new law:

• Breaking down Bill 62: What you can and can't do while wearing a niqab in Quebec
• Quebec justice minister explains how ‘niqab ban’ would be applied after widespread criticism
• Bill 62 panders to anti-Muslim feelings outside Montreal: critics

Law Library of Congress Report on Blasphemy and Related Laws

The Law Library of Congress in Washington recently published a report that surveys laws criminalizing blasphemy in 77 jurisdictions around the world:

"This report ... surveys laws criminalizing blasphemy, defaming religion, harming religious feelings, and similar conduct in seventy-seven jurisdictions. In some instances the report also addresses laws criminalizing proselytization. Laws prohibiting incitement to religious hatred and violence are outside the scope of this report, although in some cases such laws are mentioned where they are closely intertwined with blasphemy. The report focuses mostly on laws at the national level, and while it aims to cover the majority of countries with such laws, it does not purport to be comprehensive. For each surveyed country, the law in question is quoted or paraphrased and examples of enforcement actions are briefly described where reports of such actions were found. Blasphemy laws are widely dispersed around the globe; regional patterns are apparent. Such laws are more likely to exist and be actively enforced in Islamic countries."

Despite the fact that active enforcement appears to be more common in Moslem countries, the report notes that there have been prosecutions in recent years in Austria, Finland, Germany, Greece, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Under Canada's Criminal Code s. 296, it is an offence to commit “blasphemous libel”. However, that section has not been used since the mid-1930s.

Updated Research Guides From GlobaLex

GlobaLex, the electronic collection created by the Hauser Global Law School Program at the New York University School of Law, recently updated some of its research guides:

• Religious Legal Systems in Comparative Law - A Guide to Introductory Research: "Religious law in this guide is seen as a branch of comparative law and legal study. Further, it is argued here that comparative law itself may most usefully be seen as part of the tradition of legal philosophy. Far from being wholly academic, however, comparative law is a practical approach in the service of 1) legal education 2) the appreciation of treaty implementation and 3) choice of law in the new world of public/private international law known as transnational law. At the conclusion of this guide to sources is a brief discussion of this approach to comparative law (...) It is clear that in areas of private law such as family law, inheritance, and in come commercial transactions, several religious systems influence secular law or are incorporated as a regime which may or must be applied in those areas or to members of certain religious communities. As sources for legal research in these areas are inter-disciplinary and often less known in the world of legal research, an overview of the major world systems, and where and how they are implemented, is offered. "
• Transnational and Comparative Family Law: Harmonization and Implementation: " 'Transnational' (or 'transactional') law is becoming a frequent phenomenon in the practice of law and now occupies a prominent place in the study of international and comparative law. Both academic and practitioner-oriented information sources point to ways to locate and connect national laws with treaties and regimes of harmonization; however, commercial and procedural rules have been, in general, easier to locate than substantive and harmonized law in the family law area. This guide points researchers to significant electronic and print sources in transnational and comparative family law.  The purpose of this guide is to indicate how these international conventions are implemented in selected jurisdictions with some indication of how to locate substantive national law under these same international regimes. An excellent resource on this topic is the Encyclopedia of Private International Law (Jürgen Basedow, et al., eds), Edward Elgar Publishing, 2017. It includes article/entries on the topics dealt with most often in international family law: adoption, child abduction, divorce, marriage, and trusts. "
• International Commercial Arbitration: "International commercial arbitration is a means of resolving disputes arising under international commercial contracts. It is used as an alternative to litigation and is controlled primarily by the terms previously agreed upon by the contracting parties, rather than by national legislation or procedural rules. Most contracts contain a dispute resolution clause specifying that any disputes arising under the contract will be handled through arbitration rather than litigation. The parties can specify the forum, procedural rules, and governing law at the time of the contract. "

Library of Parliament Analysis of Freedom of Religion and the State’s Duty of Neutrality

The Library of Parliament today published a post on its HillNotes blog that refers to the recent Supreme Court of Canada decision Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay (City) .

The Court ruled unanimously that the City of Saguenay, Quebec cannot open its council meetings with a prayer:

"The Court held in Mouvement laïque québécois v. Saguenay (City) that the recitation of prayers before council interfered with an atheist appellant’s freedom of conscience and religion and failed to respect the state’s duty of neutrality on religious matters. This duty requires that the state abstain from favouring one religious belief over others (...)"

"Writing on behalf of the Court, Justice Clément Gascon stressed that the decision should not be viewed as 'taking a stand in favour of atheism or agnosticism' over religion. Rather, he wrote that in preserving 'a neutral public space that is free of discrimination and in which true freedom to believe or not to believe is enjoyed by everyone equally,' the state helps preserve every person’s 'freedom and dignity' (...)"

"Justice Gascon discussed the Supreme Court’s 'evolving' understanding of the freedom of religion and conscience. He added that it must be interpreted in light of section 27 of the Canadian Charter, which recognizes the multicultural nature of Canada. He recognized that there are many traditional practices in Canada’s heritage that are religious in nature."

"A reference to a religious faith by the state is not on its own determinative. Rather, it is the purpose and effect of the reference that may be discriminatory. The traditional element of such practices, however, cannot be used to justify promoting the participation of certain believers to the detriment of others."

Law Library of Congress Report on Constitutional Provisions on National and Religious Identity

The Law Library of Congress in Washington recently released a comparative report on Constitutional Provisions on National and Religious Identity:

"This report contains information on provisions in constitutions and other founding documents specifying an ethnic or religious identity for a n Asian or European country. Section I covers twenty countries and includes those indicating an ethnic identity and in some cases also a religious one. Section II covers four countries for whom those documents mention only a religious identity, not an ethnic one, and whose constitutions indicate that the specified religion is the basis for legislation. Section III covers thirteen countries that specify a religion, without necessarily indicating that religion is the basis of legislation and without any single ethnic identity."

The Law Library of Congress is the world’s largest law library, with a collection of over 2.65 million volumes from all ages of history and virtually every jurisdiction in the world.

It has produced many comparative law reports on a large range of topics.

Library of Parliament on Freedom of Religion and Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere

The Library of Parliament recently updated its research publication dealing with Freedom of Religion and Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere:

"The issue of religious symbols in the public sphere has given rise to widespread debate on the scope of freedom of religion in various countries around the world. In our modern environment of globalization and unprecedented international migration flows, traditionally homogenous nations face the blurring of established spheres of cultural identity, and, in some cases, governments are changing laws, policies, and politics in an effort to manage these shifts. The various political, legislative, and judicial treatments of this issue have given rise to differing interpretations of freedom of religion as defined through domestic and international laws (...)"

"The most prominent disputes over religious symbols in the public sphere have involved religious headcoverings – one of the most immediately obvious demonstrations of one’s faith that automatically distinguishes Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews from the larger, mostly Christian population in the Western world. The recent rise of immigrants in Europe has meant that headcoverings have become significant symbols of difference, provoking debate about their role in the public sphere (...) "

"What becomes clear from this analysis is that while issues of freedom of religion are being debated in courts throughout the world in a variety of different contexts, the Islamic headscarf seems to have provoked cultural tensions in many European countries. One might argue that, backed by the ECHR [European Court of Human Rights], many states are turning to secularism as a protective shield in an attempt to guard society from the complexities of multiculturalism, effectively preventing the broad expression of a right that is guaranteed in international and domestic constitutional laws."

"In countries such as Canada and the United States, the question of religious symbols has been significantly less contentious, perhaps because these two nations were built upon the foundations of immigration and have needed to accept difference in order to survive. As a result, both Canada and the United States have a political and constitutional climate that has allowed their governments and courts to interpret freedom of religion in its broadest form, adopting an approach of neutral accommodation."

"Thus, each country in the Western world essentially provides a very similar guarantee of freedom, using a very similar constitutional proportionality test based on strong principles of freedom of religion. However, that test tends to be applied differently depending on each country’s historical traditions and its social and political culture, which have a profound influence on legal arguments concerning the limiting scope of safety, security, and public order."

To Whom Does the Pope Send His Resignation Letter?

In Custodia Legis, the blog of the Law Library of Congress in Washington, has an interesting post on Canonical Rules on the Resignation of a Pontiff, and the Election of a New Pontiff (part 1 of 2 posted yesterday). It is written by Dante Figueroa, Senior Legal Information Analyst at the Law Library of Congress:

"Since the last papal resignation was nearly 600 years ago, this month’s announcement took the world by surprise and resulted in many questions. I will address several of the most important juridical questions arising from Pope Benedict’s resignation, for which there are responses in current Canon law, as well as other questions for which there are no canonical rules or precedents."

Some of those questions are:

• To whom does the Pontiff present his resignation?
• What title will the outgoing Pontiff have?
• What role will former Pope Benedict have in the government of the Holy See?
• Who administers the Holy See in the interregnum (between the Papal resignation and the assumption of the new Supreme Pontiff)?
• What administrative acts may be carried out during the Sede Vacante [vacancy], and who may order or supervise them?

The next post by Figueroa will explain the canonical rules governing the election of the future Pope.

Tasmania Law Reform Institute Proposes Banning Circumcision

The Tasmania Law Reform Institute released a report this week on Non-Therapeutic Male Circumcision.

Among its recommendations are:

• A general prohibition on the circumcision of incapable minors with an exception for well-established religious or ethnicity-motivated circumcisions
• Enactment of legislation clarifying the legality of circumcisions performed at the request of adult or capable minor and governing situations where parents disagree about the desirability of performing a circumcision
• Greater dissemination of accurate information on the known and potential effects and significance of circumcision
• The imposition of criminal sanctions for a circumciser who fails to meet minimum standards of care: and  
• Setting of a uniform limitations period in which individuals can bring an action against their circumciser and extending the limitations period for individuals harmed by circumcisions as a minor. 

The Commission looked at the Tasmanian situation as well as the law in other jurisdictions such as South Africa, Sweden and the United States.

As the University of Pittsburgh's legal news site Jurist reports, the Tasmanian report arrives at a moment when there are a heated legal controversies in places like Germany and California surrounding the circumcision of minors.

Library of Parliament on Freedom of Religion and Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere

The Library of Parliament recently released a publication dealing with Freedom of Religion and Religious Symbols in the Public Sphere:

"The issue of religious symbols in the public sphere has given rise to widespread debate on the scope of freedom of religion in various countries around the world. In our modern environment of globalization and unprecedented international migration flows, traditionally homogenous nations face the blurring of established spheres of cultural identity, and, in some cases, governments are changing laws, policies, and politics in an effort to manage these shifts. The various political, legislative, and judicial treatments of this issue have given rise to differing interpretations of freedom of religion as defined through domestic and international laws."

(...)

"The most prominent disputes over religious symbols in the public sphere have involved religious headcoverings - one of the most immediately obvious demonstrations of one’s faith that automatically distinguishes Muslims, Sikhs, and Jews from the larger, mostly Christian population in the Western world. The recent rise of immigrants in Europe has meant that headcoverings have become significant symbols of difference, provoking debate about their role in the public sphere."

(...)

"What becomes clear from this analysis is that while issues of freedom of religion are being debated in courts throughout the world in a variety of different contexts, the Islamic headscarf seems to have provoked cultural tensions in many European countries. One might argue that, backed by the ECHR, many states are turning to secularism as a protective shield in an attempt to guard society from the complexities of multiculturalism, effectively preventing the broad expression of a right that is guaranteed in international and domestic constitutional laws."

"In countries such as Canada and the United States, the question of religious symbols has been significantly less contentious, perhaps because these two nations were built upon the foundations of immigration and have needed to accept difference in order to survive. As a result, both Canada and the United States have a political and constitutional climate that has allowed their governments and courts to interpret freedom of religion in its broadest form, adopting an approach of neutral accommodation."

"Thus, each country in the Western world essentially provides a very similar guarantee of freedom, using a very similar constitutional proportionality test based on strong principles of freedom of religion. However, that test tends to be applied differently depending on each country’s historical traditions and its social and political culture, which have a profound influence on legal arguments concerning the limiting scope of safety, security, and public order."

Legal Aspects of the English Royal Wedding

The Harvard Law School Library has published a post on Royal Wedding: Pomp, Circumstance, and Law to explain all the legalities about how people in the British royal family get hitched.

Apparently, it is a lot more complicated than simply showing up at city hall, calling a florist and worrying about the caterer:

"The carriages are polished, the cakes baked, and the trees are in the Abbey (really!)…if you plan to celebrate your Anglo-American legal heritage by putting on your tiara at 4am tomorrow morning, it may be of interest that Prince William and Catherine Middleton have more legal requirements involved in their getting hitched than the average British couple."

Newsletter on Law and Religion - Crucifixes Stay in Italian Classrooms

For the past few years, Sébastien Lherbier-Levy has been publishing a very detailed French-language newsletter on religion and law called La lettre du droit des religions.

Each issue includes an editorial comment, feature articles, news items from different countries, case law from the European Court of Human Rights (and domestic case law from French tribunals) and often a bibliography.

The most recent issue (March 2011) has a number of items of interest to Canadian readers, including an examination of the recent European Court of Human Rights decision in the Lautsi v. Italy case that found that having crucifixes in Italian classrooms did not violate the separation of Church and state.

Newsletter on Law and Religion

For the past few years, Sébastien Lherbier-Levy has been publishing a very detailed French-language newsletter on religion and law called La lettre du droit des religions.

Each issue includes an editorial comment, feature articles, news items from different countries, case law from the European Court of Human Rights (and domestic case law from French tribunals) as well as a bibliography.

The most recent issue (December 2010) has a number of items of interest to Canadian readers relating to the niqab issue (the full veil covering the entire face worn by some Moslem women) as well as to the prohibition against the teaching of religion in Quebec kindergardens.

Newsletter on Law and Religion

For the past few years, Sébastien Lherbier-Levy has been publishing a very detailed French-language newsletter on religion and law called "La lettre du droit des religions".

Each issue includes an editorial comment, feature articles, news items from different countries, case law from the European Court of Human Rights (and domestic case law from French tribunals) as well as a bibliography.

In the most recent issue (March 2010), there are, among other things, a number of items on the niqab controversy in various countries, including Canada. The niqab is the full veil covering the entire face worn by some Moslem women.

Research Guide on Religious Legal Systems in Comparative Law

The GlobaLex portal at New York University has just published an updated version of Religious Legal Systems in Comparative Law: A Guide to Introductory Research written by Marylin Johnson Raisch.

Raisch is the Librarian for International and Foreign Law at the John Wolff International and Comparative Law Library of the Georgetown Law Center.

The Guide offers an introduction to religious law with sections covering Islamic law, Jewish law, Christian Canon law, Hindu law, Buddhist Law and Confucian Law. Each section provides essential facts as well as details of Web, book and article sources available.

There is also a list giving details of how religious law is implemented in a number of jurisdictions.

Blawgosphere Comments on Darwin's 200th Birthday

As many readers know, today marks the bicentennial of the birth of English naturalist Charles Darwin, author of On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.

The blawgosphere has not been silent, especially in the U.S.:

• Book news on a Nixon tapes controversy, Darwin books, Sugrue review, and more (Legal History Blog, February 1st, 2009): "Two arresting new books, timed to co­incide with Darwin’s 200th birthday, make the case that his epochal achievement in Victorian England can best be under­stood in relation to events — involving neither tortoises nor finches — on the other side of the Atlantic. Both books confront the touchy subject of Darwin and race head on; both conclude that Darwin, despite the pernicious spread of 'social Darwinism' (the notion, popularized by Herbert Spencer, that human society progresses through the 'survival of the fittest'), was no racist. According to Benfey, Desmond and Moore 'set out to overturn the widespread view that Darwin was a 'tough-minded scientist' who unflinchingly followed the trail of empirical research until it led to the stunning and unavoidable theory of evolution. This narrative, they claim, is precisely backward. 'Darwin’s starting point,' they write, 'was the abolitionist belief in blood kinship, a ‘common descent’' of all human beings.' "
• Books Examine The Origins of Darwin's Scientific Explorations and the Persistent Antipathy Toward Evolution (First Amendment Law Prof Blog, February 8, 2009): "As the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth approaches on February 12, the man and the controversy that continues to surround the teaching of evolution are examined in a number of new books."
  
• Darwin's beautiful mind, still not fully appreciated (Jurisdynamics, February 9, 2009): "That serious scientists — let alone the American public — continue to debate The Origin and The Descent of Man testifies to the extent to which Darwin was able to accomplish four intellectual breakthroughs that evidently still elude some contemporary scientists ..."
• Celebrate Darwin Day at the Univ. Library (CM Law Library Blog, Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, February 11, 2009): offers links to works of Darwin online, resources on evolutionary theory, as well as material relating to the legal controversies in the US over the teaching of creationist doctrines
• Origin Of The Specious: AU Attorney Comments On The Evolution Of Creationism (Americans United for Separation of Church and State, February 11, 2009): " 'The creationists won’t admit it, but the debate is over, and they lost,' writes Katskee [Americans United Assistant Legal Director Richard B. Katskee in a U.S. News & World Report opinion piece]. 'Every time creationism has been brought into public schools, the courts have found it unconstitutional. It doesn’t matter what label is used – ‘creation science,’ ‘intelligent design’ (ID), or ‘the theory of abrupt appearance’ – all are cut from the same unconstitutional cloth.' Katskee is eminently qualified to comment on this matter. He played a crucial role on the legal team that stopped the teaching of ID in Dover, Pa., public schools in 2005. Americans United and the ACLU brought that legal challenge on behalf of local parents, aided by the Philadelphia law firm of Pepper Hamilton. "
• PBS - Nova Program - "Intelligent Design on Trial" (Slaw.ca, February 11, 2009): "... PBS in Buffalo/Toronto broadcast last night a documentary called 'Intelligent Design on Trial.' The documentary can be viewed in clips at the foregoing link where there are also transcripts and extra video clips and links. The show was a documentary on the attempt by the Dover Area School Board (in rural Pennsylvania) in late 2004 to enforce a policy that its high school science classes be obliged to teach 'intelligent design' (ID) as an alternative theory to Darwin’s theory of evolution (...) The controversy culminated in a 6-week trial brought by concerned parents and other parties (...) In thoroughly decimating the expert evidence of the defendant School Board that ID was somehow a scientific theory, the court ruled that this intelligent design policy was largely religious creationism in a new guise and therefore 'unconstitutional pursuant to the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and Art. I, § 3 of the Pennsylvania Constitution'."
  

The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has produced a general overview of The Social and Legal Dimensions of the Evolution Debate in the U.S.

Report of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities

15 months after its creation by the Quebec government, and after extensive public hearings in all regions of the province on the issue of how far society should go to accommodate requests for religious and cultural adjustments from individuals from minority groups, the Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences finally released its report and recommendations.

The 2 commissioners, sociologist Gérard Bouchard and philosopher Charles Taylor, make 37 recommendations.

Among them, they suggest that the government prepare an official White Paper on secularism ("laïcité"), that it promote interculturalism and provide better funding to diversity programs, that it provide training to institutions about best practices in cultural adjustments so as to encourage the dejudicializing of the handling of accommodation requests, that it do more to integrate newcomers into a French-speaking majority society and that it offer better protection to those newcomers against all forms of discrimination.

When it comes to religious symbols, one of the flashpoints in the debate, the Commission recommends that all public officials who embody the authority and the neutrality of the state and its institutions, such as judges, Crown prosecutors, police officers, prison guards and the president and vice-president of the National Assembly of Québec be prohibited from wearing any (hijab, crucifix, etc.).

However, teachers, public servants, health professionals and all other government employees would be authorized to do so.

13 expert consultant reports are also available on the Commission website.

Earlier Library Boy posts on the reasonable accommodation debate in Quebec include:

• Quebec Hearings on Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities Begin Next Month (August 15, 2007): "The Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences was created by the provincial government last spring after a number of incidents involving clashes or controversies between members of minority groups, in particular religious minorities, and the members of the highly secularized French-speaking majority that overthrew the restraints of its earlier conservative Catholic culture more than 40 years ago during the 'Quiet Revolution' of the 1960s. The Commission's consultation document is available online".
• Policy Options Sept. 2007 Issue on Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities (September 11, 2007): "The Sept. 2007 issue of Policy Options, a journal of the Montreal think tank Institute for Research on Public Policy, contains a number of articles on the issue of reasonable accommodation of minorities, in particular religious minorities. The issue was published just as public hearings of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on state secularism, immigrant integation and relations between minorities and the French-speaking majority of the province get underway in Quebec."

Podcast on Polygamy and the Law

The most recent episode of the Lawyer2Lawyer Podcast features a discussion between co-host Robert Ambrogi, family-law attorney Betsy Branch and social critic Wendy Kaminer about the implications of the recent raid of a Texas polygamist ranch by U.S. authorities.

The podcast participants "explore DNA testing, civil liberties, the question of child abuse vs. religion, a sect’s legal rights and the fate of the children."

The legal controversy over polygamy has also been brewing here in Canada:

• Polygamy in Canada - Can It Be Banned? (CBC News In Depth): "So in Canada, having more than one spouse can get you in trouble, right? Well, not on the face of it. There hasn't been a prosecution for polygamy in Canada for more than 60 years. Nor are statistics kept on how many Canadians live in polygamous marriages, a broad category that covers both men and women with multiple spouses (...) Yet the situation among members of the breakaway Mormon sect in Bountiful, B.C., is what concerns legal scholars and authorities most at the moment. There are those who say governments need to act, to lay charges against men in Bountiful who have openly engaged in polygamy. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in that B.C. town has strong ties to the polygamous sect in Eldorado, Texas, where hundreds of children are alleged to have been abused and women as young as 14 alleged to be married to much older men. "
• Legal Background to the Controversy on Polygamy in Canada (Library Boy post, August 3, 2007): "There have recently been a number of studies on the legal aspects of the polygamy debate in Canada. In 2005 Status of Women Canada, a government agency that promotes gender equality, commissioned four research reports on the topic of polygamy..."
• Update on Polygamy Controversy (Library Boy post, August 24, 2008): "The Osgoode Hall Law School blog The Court has just published a good summary of the issues for Canada: 'A Polygamy Primer'."

Monthly Newsletter on Law and Religion

For the past few years, Sébastien Lherbier-Levy has been publishing a very detailed monthly newsletter on religion and law called "La lettre du droit des religions".

Each issue includes an editorial comment, a feature article, news items from France and the European Union, case law from the European Court of Human Rights (and domestic case law from French tribunals) as well as a bibliography.

In the most recent issue, there are items about the place of religion in the European Union's new Lisbon Treaty, digests of French and European court and tribunal decisions, summaries of debates in the French and European Parliaments dealing with religious matters, the full text (in French) of the Supreme Court of Canada decision Bruker v. Marcovitz, 2007 SCC 54 on Jewish religious divorce, and excerpts about France from the text of the U.S. Secretary of State's 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom.

Earlier Library Boy posts about the intersection of religion and secular law include:

• Laïcité 1905-2005: Centenary of the Separation of Church and State in France (December 12, 2005): "Last Friday, December 9, marked the 100th anniversary of the passing of the French law creating an active separation of Church and state, a concept known as 'laïcité' and that is often translated as secularism."
• Ontario Bans Sharia Arbitration (February 17, 2006): "The provincial government of Ontario passed legislation this week that bans the use of binding religious arbitration to settle family law matters, like divorce and child custody. The government was driven to pass the law by a public pressure campaign that took off last year against the possibility that a controversial set of Muslim rules and guidelines known as sharia would be used under the Arbitration Act, 1991."
• Religious Law Guide (February 17, 2006): "The Guide offers an introduction to religious law with sections covering Islamic law, Jewish law, Christian Canon law, Hindu law, Buddhist Law and Confucian Law. Each section provides essential facts as well as details of Web, book and article sources available. There is also a list giving details of how religious law is implemented in a number of jurisdictions."
• Quebec Government Creates Committee on Religious/Cultural Diversity in Schools (October 11, 2006): "The Quebec Minister of Education, Jean-Marc Fournier, announced today that he is creating a consultative committee on diversity in the province's schools whose primary task will be to come up with 'a clear and accessible definition of what is a reasonable accommodation' between the needs of children from cultural and religious minorities and the values of the officially secular public education system."
• Supreme Court of Canada to Review Religious Divorce (October 16, 2006): "[T]he Supreme Court of Canada will hear a case on December 5, 2006 of a Jewish woman who sued her ex-husband for 'allegedly blighting her chances to remarry within her faith when he broke his contractual pledge to her to consent to a religious divorce.' According to the article entitled 'Withholding ghet permission to be reviewed by Supremes', the issue in this specific case is part of a list of 'current religious/secular conflicts over the propriety of polygamy, same-sex marriage and the use of traditional faith-based laws like Sharia to resolve family and civil disputes'."
• Legal Background to the Controversy on Polygamy in Canada (August 3, 2007): "Earlier this week, a special prosecutor in British Columbia concluded there was insufficient evidence to lay criminal charges against members of a break-away Mormon polygamist colony in the town of Bountiful (...) There have recently been a number of studies on the legal aspects of the polygamy debate in Canada. In 2005 Status of Women Canada, a government agency that promotes gender equality, commissioned four research reports on the topic of polygamy..."
• Policy Options Sept. 2007 Issue on Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities (September 11, 2007): "The Sept. 2007 issue of Policy Options, a journal of the Montreal think tank Institute for Research on Public Policy, contains a number of articles on the issue of reasonable accommodation of minorities, in particular religious minorities.The issue was published just as public hearings of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on state secularism, immigrant integation and relations between minorities and the French-speaking majority of the province get underway in Quebec."

Policy Options Sept. 2007 Issue on Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities

The Sept. 2007 issue of Policy Options, a journal of the Montreal think tank Institute for Research on Public Policy, contains a number of articles on the issue of reasonable accommodation of minorities, in particular religious minorities.

The issue was published just as public hearings of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on state secularism, immigrant integation and relations between minorities and the French-speaking majority of the province get underway in Quebec.

Among the articles in the current issue are:

• "Neutralité de l'État et accommodements : convergence ou divergence ?" by José Woehrling
• "Reasonable accommodation in a global village" by Yasmeen Abu-Laban and Baha Abu-Laban
• "The paradoxes of reasonable accommodation" by Julius Grey
• "De convictions et d'accommodements" by C. Allard, M. Blanchard, M. Bourque, A. León-Germain, S. Gervais, C. Giguère, J. Maclure, et F.-N. Pelletier
• "Secular logic and faith: a dialogue of the deaf?" by David Mendelsohn
• "Des balises pour une société ouverte et inclusive" by Marie Mc Andrew
• "Reasonable or mutual accommodation? The integration debate in Germany" by Rita Süssmuth
• "Un débat inachevé qui refait surface" by Rachida Azdouz

See my August 15, 2007 Library Boy post entitled Quebec Hearings on Reasonable Accommodation of Minorities Begin Next Month:

"The Consultation Commission on Accommodation Practices Related to Cultural Differences was created by the provincial government last spring after a number of incidents involving clashes or controversies between members of minority groups, in particular religious minorities, and the members of the highly secularized French-speaking majority that overthrew the restraints of its earlier conservative Catholic culture more than 40 years ago during the 'Quiet Revolution' of the 1960s. The Commission's consultation document is available online".