Religious symbols, individual rights and objective law. Reflections on Lautsi

Authors

  • Fernando Simón Yarza

Keywords:

Lautsi, religious freedom, pluralism, nacional identity, sovereignty, culture, religious symbols, churches, human rights, constitutional rights, individual rights, objective law, political community, status

Abstract

The Judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the case Lautsi and others v. Italy, dated as of 18 March 2011, is probably one of the most relevant decisions in the Court’s history. As it can be deduced from the different commentaries it has aroused, the case raises up several important problems such as the limits of human rights and the sovereignty of the states, the cultural value of religion, the way of conjugating the preservation of national identity and the respect for pluralism, or even the appropriate role of fundamental rights. This article seeks to offer some responses to those questions. In doing so, the author enphasizes the necessity of basing one’s arguments on a theory of constitucional rights that places correctly the status of the citizen and the small communities within the whole political society.