State may breach rights over religious class opt-out

THE POLICY of removing a child from class during religious instruction without offering them an alternative class may not be in compliance with the State’s obligations to various international institutions, according to the Irish Human Rights Commission.

Under legislation, parents who object to religious instruction may allow their child to be removed from class during this time.

However, a discussion paper released by the commission at a conference on religion, human rights and education held jointly with TCD’s department of law in Dublin on Saturday, states that this may violate certain undertakings given by the State.

This could apply if removal of the child is not a reasonable option in a school, or when the family objects to the fact that religious instruction is occurring in the school contrary to the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion of the child/family.

Dr Alison Mawhinney of the school of law at Queen’s University Belfast told the conference that in a number of recent cases, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Human Rights Committee have given much more detailed consideration of the circumstances in which exemptions are an acceptable way of dealing with doctrinal religious education.

She said that in a recent ECHR case concerning a similar policy in operation in Norway, the system of partial opt-outs was impractical and insufficient to protect the parents’ right to freedom of thought.

A similar case brought to the commission found that the operation of a partial opt-out scheme was in violation of its religious liberty provisions. She said in future both bodies will examine opt-out clauses with much greater consideration given to the practical and emotional burden that they can place on students and parents.

It is very likely that the Strasbourg court and the commission will not accept a lack of teachers or a lack of classrooms as a sufficient reason for not providing a meaningful alternative. The conference was part of a process that will culminate in the commission making recommendations on legislative reforms to the Government.

The recommendations will be passed to the Government next year, but no date has been set.

Dr Maurice Manning, president of the commission, said the beliefs and views of Irish society are evolving and with that comes changing expectations about the relationship between education and religion. Universal human rights principles are the common denominator that can bring diverse views together.