Spotting Bias in Legal Reasoning

Courts tasked to rule on religious freedom claims in the private sector workplace have been faced with the following challenge: too weak a protection of religious freedom and it will fall; too strong, and individual freedom will be stifled. In recent years, courts on each side of the Atlantic have respectively leant towards each of these two extremes. In Europe, courts have afforded minimalist and, as I will argue, too restrictive protection to religious interests. Whether out of deference for state constitutional traditions or economic interests, courts in Europe have often undermined the protection of religious freedom. Conversely, in the United States, the United States Supreme Court has, in recent cases, granted a maximalist and, as I will argue, excessive protection to religious interests. The lecture will demonstrate the flaws of each approach, with a focus on the European perspective. It will unravel the main three types of bias which underly these extreme positions, namely the state, the economic and the religious bias.

The event will be chaired by Professor Horatia Muir Watt (SciencesPo Paris Law School). 

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Photo by James Henry on Pixabay.