Recognizing Religious Minority Rights

Abstract

The European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) does not contain any provision on minorities, and neither has the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) considered the notion of minority rights when dealing with claims involving religious minorities. This contribution aims to show how the Court addresses the rights of religious minorities through the concepts of ‘religious diversity’ and ‘pluralism’. In order to overcome the historical tension between individual rights versus group rights, the author offers a theoretical typology on religious minority rights that combines rights- holders with individual and group interests and takes into consideration UN human rights texts on minorities and the freedom of religion, as well as the ECHR and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. By applying the three categories of the above- mentioned typology— individual differentiated rights to members of minorities, group- differentiated rights, and special interest group rights— to the Court’s jurisprudence on members of religious minorities and religious communities, the author concludes that while the ECtHR has systematically reiterated its commitment to pluralism, it has partly failed to grant protection to religious diversity, particularly, when ‘uncomfortable’ religious diversities are the stake.