Religious Rights within the Family: From Coerced Manifestation to Dispute Resolution in France, England and Hong Kong

Description

It is often asserted that ‘A family that prays together, stays together’. But what if a child no longer wishes to pray? This book analyses the law in relation to situations where parents force their children to manifest the parental religion. From thorough examination of international law it argues that, unlike what is generally believed, the human rights regime does not grant parents a right to impose manifestations of their religion on their children. Instead, the author proposes to regard coerced manifestations as a limitation on children’s right to freedom of manifestation, based on national laws that give parents rights at the domestic level under principles such as parental responsibility. The book focuses on two aspects of States’ positive obligations in this regard. First, the obligation to provide a regulatory framework that can protect children’s right to freedom of manifestation, and restricts limitations to those that are proportionate or 'necessary in a democratic society'. Second, to provide access to remedies, which it is argued should consist of access to a family-friendly infrastructure for dispute resolution available to parents and children in conflict over religious manifestation. Both depend heavily on the way States balance power between parents and children at the national level. The book includes three case studies and social research of jurisdictions that offer different perspectives under the principles of parental authority (France), parental responsibility (England) and parental rights (Hong Kong). Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Table of cases and decisions Table of legislative documents Table of general comments, resolutions and state reporting Chapter 1: Introduction 1.1 Parentally coerced religious manifestations Chapter 2: A parental right to impose religious manifestations? 2.1 The parental right to determine a child’s education 2.2 The parental right to organise religious life in the family 2.3 The parental right to provide direction to the child 2.4 Parental rights under parents’ religious freedom rights 2.5 Parental rights under non-religion-related provisions 2.6 The absence of a parental right under international law Chapter 3: Children’s right to freedom of manifestation 3.1 Children’s rights under international law 3.2 What do children’s religious rights protect? 3.3 Children’s competence and parental agency 3.4 A special place for culture? Chapter 4: Coerced manifestations as limitations on rights 4.1 The public order limitation ground 4.2 Principles governing parent–child relations 4.3 The best interests of the child Chapter 5: Invoking and enforcing freedom of manifestation within the family 5.1 Horizontal effect and positive obligations 5.2 Arguments against rights within the family 5.3 Enforcing rights within the family 5.4 Conclusion Chapter 6: Parentally coerced religious manifestations in France 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Horizontal effect tempered by children’s incompetence 6.3 Coerced manifestations under parental authority 6.4 Limitations on parental power 6.5 Invoking and enforcing rights within the family 6.6 Conclusion Chapter 7: Parentally coerced religious manifestations in England 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Rights without horizontal effect 7.3 Coerced manifestations under parental responsibility 7.4 Limitations on parental responsibility 7.5 Invoking and enforcing rights within the family 7.6 Conclusion Chapter 8: Parentally coerced religious manifestations in Hong Kong 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Rights without horizontal effect 8.3 Coerced manifestations under parental rights 8.4 Limitations on parental rights 8.5 Invoking and enforcing rights within the family 8.6 Conclusion Chapter 9: Conclusion Bibliography Index