French Laïcité and Freedom of Conscience
Keywords:
French Laïcité, Freedom of Conscience, Constitution, Secularism.Abstract
The proper regulation of the political and legal relationship between church and state constitutes one of the most important challenges for states. In accordance with the historical development of civil society, states at different times have sought to devise forms of governance in which the institution of the church would also be represented in its own way. In this regard, one distinctive secular form of such relations is French Laïcité. Accordingly, the present paper examines the history of the origin of this model and the dynamics of its development. Particular attention is paid to its role in the formation of a modern democratic and legal system of governance and, ultimately, to the peaceful coexistence of church and state.
References
1. The Acts of the Holy Apostles (recorded by Luke the Evangelist) (in Georgian).
2. The Epistle of the Apostle Paul to the Romans (in Georgian).
3. The Constitution of France [3 September 1791] (in Georgian).
4. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bavaria [26 May 1818] (in Georgian).
5. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Württemberg [25 September 1819] (in Georgian).
6. The French Law on the Separation of Churches and the State [9 December 1905] (in Georgian).
7. The Federal Act (Bundesakte) [1 September 1949] (in Georgian).
8. The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of France, affirmed by the Constitution of France [4 October 1958] (in Georgian).
9. Basdevant-Gaudemet, B., State and Church in France, in: State and Church in the Member States of the European Union, edited by G. Robbers, translation of the 2nd edition, Tbilisi, 2011 (in Georgian).
10. Boumis, P. I., Canonical Law, translated by I. Garakanidze, Tbilisi, 2007 (in Georgian).
11. Dodashvili, S., Logic, translated by B. B. Iashvili, 1949 (in Georgian).
12. Kant, I., Critique of Pure Reason, translated by Sh. Papuashvili, 1979 (in Georgian).
13. Locklin, R. B., Many Windows in the Wall, journal “Constitutional Law Review”, No. 5, 2012 (in Georgian).
14. Robbers, G., State and Church in Germany, in: State and Church in the Member States of the European Union, edited by G. Robbers, translation of the 2nd edition, Tbilisi, 2011 (in Georgian).
15. Khutsurauli, I., The Interrelation between Christian Religion and Law in the State, journal “Law”, No. 9–10, 2001 (in Georgian).
16. Javakhishvili, M., Peasant Letters, Tbilisi, 1906 (in Georgian).
17. Javakhishvili, M., The History of the Papacy in the Middle Ages, Tbilisi, 2015 (in Georgian).
18. An Introductory Dictionary of Theology and Religious Studies, Liturgical Press, 2007.
19. Baubérot J., Willaime J.-P., Portier P., A Brief History Of French laïcité. In Religion and Secularism in France Today, 1st ed., 2002.
20. Böckenförde E., Religion, Law, and Democracy, Oxford University Press, 2022.
21. Constitutional Secularism in an Age of Religious Revival., OUP Oxford, 2014.
22. Daly E., The Ambiguous Reach of Constitutional Secularism in Republican France: Revisiting the Idea of Laïcité and Political Liberalism as Alternatives. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 32(3), 2012.
23. Davis S. M., Rise of French Laïcité: French Secularism From The Reformation To The Twenty-first Century (1st ed., Vol. 7), 2020.
24. Doyle A. M., Catholic Church and state relations in French education in the nineteenth century: the struggle between laïcité and religion. International Studies in Catholic Education, 9(1), 2017.
25. Ferrari S., Introduction to European Church and State Discourses, in: Law & Religion in the 21st Century – Nordic Perspectives, Edited by L. Christoffersen, K. Å. Modeér, S. Andersen, Copenhagen.
26. Gedicks F., McConnell M., The Free Exercise Clause, 2001.
27. Géraud A., The Lateran Treaties: A Step in Vatican Policy, Foreign Affairs, #7, 1928–1929.
28. Hirschl R., Comparative Constitutional Law and Religion, in: Comparative Constitutional Law, Edited by T. Ginsburg and R. Dixon, Cheltenham, 2011.
29. Kaczmarczyk R., Laicizm vs Freedom To Manifest And Practice Religion On The Example Of Musilm Clothing Issues In France, 2016.
30. Maclure J., Taylor, C., Todd, J. M., Secularism and freedom of conscience, 92–107, Harvard University Press, 2011.
31. Marin K., Employment Division v. Smith: The Supreme Court Alters The State of Free Exercise Doctrine, The American University Law Review, Vol. 1436.
32. McConnell M.W., Posner R.A., An Economic Approach to Issues of Religious Freedom, University of Chicago Law Review, 1989.
33. Caron N., Laïcité and Secular Attitudes in France, Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society and Culture.
34. Norton B. J., A Question of Balance: A Study of Legal Equality and State Neutrality in the United States, France, and the Netherlands, Lexington Books, 2016.
35. O’Halloran K., State Neutrality-the sacred, the secular and equality law, Cambridge University, 2021.
36. Pacillo V., Secularism in French Cultural Discourse: Timeless Laïcité, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024.
37. Portier P., Willaime, J.-P., The three stages of French secularism. In Religion and Secularism in France Today (1st ed. Routledge), 2022.
38. Religion, Rights and Secular Society: European Perspectives, Edward Elgar Publishing, Incorporated, 2012.
39. Roemer V., Board of Public Works, 426 U.S. 1976.
40. Hook S., Religion in a Free Society, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1967.
41. Torfs R., Church and State in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands: Unexpected Similarities and Hidden Differences, “Brigham Young University Law Review”, #4, 1996.
42. Vauchez S. F., Is French Laïcité Still Liberal? The Republican Project under Pressure (2004–15), Human Rights Law Review, vol. 17, 2017.
43. Von Ranke L., Französische Geschichte, ed. Willy Andreas, Wiesbaden, 1957.
44. Zucca L., A Secular Europe - Law and Religion in the European Constitutional Landscape, Oxford University Press, 2012.
45. İzzettin Doğan and Others v. Turkey., 26.4.2016.
46. Kokkinakis v. Greece, 25.05.1993.
47. Sherbert v. Verner., 374 U.S. 398, 17.06.1963.
48. United States v. Reynolds., 345 U.S. 1, 09.03.1953.
49. https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-162697 [11.02.2025].
50. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674062955 [05.02.2025].
51. https://plus.lexis.com/document/openwebdocview/United-States-v-Reynolds-2021-U-S-Dist-LEXIS-160409/?pddocfullpath=%2Fshared%2Fdocument%2Fcases%2Furn%3AcontentItem%3A63FT-KVC1-F06F-2282-00000- 00&pdcomponentid=6416&cbc=0&pdmfid=1530671&crid=b3f64ab2-a5f0-41d2-a00e-cbaa6a3d8d09#/document/8e11a083-18f9-4007-8fe5-b498c799e340 [15.02.2025].
52. https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/374/398/ [12.02.2025].
https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-57827 [09.02.2025].
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
