The European Court of Human Rights and Religious Autonomy: Martinez v Spain

On 29 October 2014, HRLC Co-Director, Professor Dominic McGoldrick was a speaker at "Blessed are the Peacemakers" an event presented by the Charles Russell LLP, Belief in Mediation and Arbitration (BIMA) Group and the Religious Charities Group.

Prof. McGoldrick will consider the recent judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights, in Martinez v Spain [2014], and the Courts approach to protecting the autonomy of religious organisations.

The Court held that, “the principle of religious autonomy prevented the State from obliging a religious community to admit or exclude an individual or to entrust someone with a particular religious duty.”However, the judgment was not unanimous; the Court held, by nine votes to eight, that there had been no breach of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life).