Abstract
In the last few decades courts have been confronted with a variety of cases concerning the effects of the religious views and practices of parents on their children. In the Netherlands, family law courts, for example, have had to decide on the choice between secular or religious schooling, on religious rituals like circumcision and baptism, and on the exposure of children to (non-)religious practices, when dealing with the contact arrangements. The case law of the European Court of Human Rights shows that family law courts in several other European countries have also had to rule on the impact of parents’ religious practices on their children in the context of parental rights, such as custody and contact rights. In this contribution we investigate the factors used by Dutch judges to assess the best interests of the child in cases on religious disputes between parents. Furthermore, we analyse whether the Dutch case law concerning this topic is in conformity with the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. Therefore, we present which types of factors can be found and in which way these factors are assessed in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
Highlights
All published,[5] relevant Dutch case law concerning parental disputes about the religious upbringing of children will be described
The main question is: ‘Which factors are used in Dutch family law decisions and in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to determine what the best interests of the child require in a case where parents disagree about religious issues in the upbringing of the child, and how are these factors assessed?’
The question we have examined in this article is: which factors are used in Dutch family law decisions and in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to determine what the best interests of the child require in a case where parents disagree about religious issues in the upbringing of their child, and how are these factors assessed?
Summary
In the last few decades courts have been confronted with a variety of cases concerning the effects of the religious views and practices of parents on their children. The main question is: ‘Which factors are used in Dutch family law decisions and in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights to determine what the best interests of the child require in a case where parents disagree about religious issues in the upbringing of the child, and how are these factors assessed?’. The factors at national and international level that are most directly related to the religious ideas or practices of parents will receive special attention and will be categorized, as it can be assumed that these factors give a general indication of what courts view as especially relevant for assessing the well-being of the child in these kinds of cases This gives an insight into the reasons that are considered valid for state interference in religious disputes between parents. These norms allow an assessment to be made as to whether the Dutch case law is in conformity with the case law of the ECtHR (Section 4)
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