Brett G. Scharffs on the Evolution of His Thinking About Refah Partisi v. Turkey

In Refah Partisi (the Welfare Party) and Others v. Turkey, the European Court of Human Rights sided with the Turkish Constitutional Court, which had ordered the dissolution of the party based on its being a threat to secular constitutional order. Brett G. Scharffs (International Center for Law and Religion Studies) explains why and how his and his students’ opinions about the Refah Partisi case have changed over the years and why he no longer considers the Court’s decision to be an overreaction.

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Strengthening the Interpretation and Implementation of UN Resolution 55/17, Human Rights and a Culture of Peace

Brett G. Scharffs is director of the International Center for Law and Religion Studies and Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University. The following is a lightly edited version of his remarks given during a panel discussion on Human Rights Council Resolution 55/17, Human Rights and a Culture of Peace, during the 61st Session of the UN Human Rights Council, 4 March 2026, at the Assembly Hall, Palais de Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

I would like to join others in thanking the High Commissioner for Human Rights for organizing this panel discussion on Human Rights Council Resolution 55/17, Human Rights and a Culture of Peace, adopted two years ago, on 4 April 2024.

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Preserving Religious Cultural Heritage: Invoking Perspectives on Human Dignity and the Virtues of Religious Freedom

Brett G. Scharffs is Director of the International Center of Law and Religion Studies and Rex E. Lee Chair and Professor of Law at the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Brigham Young University. This post is based on a presentation given at the conference “Promoting Pluralism Through Religious Cultural Heritage Preservation” held at Exeter College, University of Oxford, 18 March 2026.

Religious cultural heritage preservation can be viewed as a human rights issue. But taking a purely human rights approach to religious cultural heritage preservation can be somewhat awkward since human rights are primarily recognized and protected for individuals. Preservation can also be viewed as a property right, but scratch the surface, and you realize it goes much deeper, in part because the property at issue resonates so deeply within communities. And so a rights-based approach may not be the end-all be-all when justifying preservation of religious sites.

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