Global Overview of Religious Registration Systems: Latin America

Brandon Reece Taylorian (University of Lancashire) has conducted a global study of religious registration. In a series of videos for Talk About: Law and Religion, Taylorian explores challenges and trends related to the registration and recognition of religious organizations. He also discusses the impact of these challenges and trends on religious freedom and minority rights. This episode focuses on Latin America.

(more…)

Continue Reading Global Overview of Religious Registration Systems: Latin America

Clashing Vulnerabilities? Revisiting Executief van de Moslims in België and Others v. Belgium with Vulnerability Theory

Jelle Creemers is a professor and the academic dean of religious studies at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit (ETF) in Leuven, Belgium.

The final judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of Executief van de Moslims in België and Others v. Belgium (13 February 2024) could not have been more clear. The seven judges unanimously held that the Flemish and Walloon decrees banning ritual slaughter of animals without prior stunning did not constitute a violation of Article 9 (freedom of religion or belief) or of Article 14 (nondiscrimination), read in conjunction with Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This decision ended the appeal of several Belgian Muslim and Jewish organizations and individuals seeking a legal exemption that would allow them to slaughter animals according to their religious convictions. The ECtHR judgment prompted debate among, and critical feedback from, European FoRB experts.

(more…)

Continue Reading Clashing Vulnerabilities? Revisiting Executief van de Moslims in België and Others v. Belgium with Vulnerability Theory

Religious Freedom and Exclusion in Religious Legal Systems: Cases of Bahá’ís in Iran and Ahmadis in Pakistan

Akif Tahiiev is a post-doctoral research fellow at Goethe University Frankfurt. This post is based on his presentation at the ICLRS 32nd Annual International Law and Religion Symposium, 7 October 2025, at Brigham Young University’s J. Reuben Clark Law School.

The post is a part of the Religious Law and Human Rights series.

One of the most significant challenges facing contemporary religious systems is the regulation of the rights of religious minorities. Legal systems approach this issue in varied ways, reflecting differences in political philosophy, historical development, and religious traditions. Some states adopt closed-list strategies, explicitly enumerating the communities entitled to recognition. Others employ more universalist frameworks, whereby secular law applies to all, but recognized groups are granted additional rights, most often in areas such as personal status. These divergent approaches shape not only the rights afforded to minorities but also the mechanisms through which exclusion is enforced.

(more…)

Continue Reading Religious Freedom and Exclusion in Religious Legal Systems: Cases of Bahá’ís in Iran and Ahmadis in Pakistan