Accommodating What Needn't Be Special

The Law & Ethics of Human Rights, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 319–340, 2018

30 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2019

See all articles by George Letsas

George Letsas

University College London - Faculty of Laws

Date Written: September 19, 2018

Abstract

Liberal debates on religious accommodation have so far focused on the nature of the interest upon which the right to freedom of religion is based. Liberals who oppose religious accommodation argue that there is nothing special about religious belief. Those who defend accommodation on the other hand seek to identify some property (such as conscience or deep commitments) that both religious and non-religious beliefs can share. The article seeks to develop an argument in favor of certain types of religious accommodation that is agnostic about the nature of religious belief and whether it is special in any sense. It argues that it is a mistake to think that the question of religious accommodation, as it arises in law, must necessarily turn on arguments about freedom of religion. The principle of fairness can justify legal duties to accommodate religious (and non-religious) practices, without the need to assess the character of the practice in question or the reasons for engaging in it. The article argues further that the principle of fairness can better explain why human rights courts uphold some claims for religious accommodation as reasonable, and not others.

Keywords: Freedom of religion, Religious accommodation, human rights, equality and non-discrimination, European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), law and religion, liberalism

Suggested Citation

Letsas, George, Accommodating What Needn't Be Special (September 19, 2018). The Law & Ethics of Human Rights, Volume 10, Issue 2, Pages 319–340, 2018, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3251807

George Letsas (Contact Author)

University College London - Faculty of Laws ( email )

Bentham House
4-8 Endsleigh Gardens
London, WC1E OEG
United Kingdom

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