US EditionReligious education in NI schools breaches human rights, Supreme Court rules
The Supreme Court found religious education in Northern Ireland schools indoctrinates students and that withdrawal rules cause stigma, violating children's rights, the court said.
- In a unanimous judgment the UK Supreme Court allowed the appeal by JR87 and G, ruling Christian religious education in Northern Ireland state-funded schools unlawful and reinstating an earlier finding.
- After a 2022 High Court ruling that RE and collective worship were not objective, the Northern Ireland Department of Education appealed to the Court of Appeal, which overturned the decision, prompting JR87 and G to take the case to the Supreme Court.
- The judgment concluded that teaching the core syllabus at JR87's school amounted to evangelism or proselytising and that the Department of Education failed to monitor religious education for human-rights compliance.
- The judgment says withdrawal can be stigmatising as the court found reasonable apprehension of stigma sufficient, while Phoenix Law called it a `watershed moment` and urged urgent reform; the Department of Education has been contacted for comment.
- The court confirmed broader rights and obligations when it affirmed all children deserve education respecting freedom of thought, conscience and religion, rejecting withdrawal as justification and urging governments in England, Scotland and Wales to revisit collective worship rules.
21 Articles
21 Articles
According to the British Supreme Court, Christian religious education was not "objective, critical and pluralistic" and violated human rights.
UK Supreme Court Brands Northern Ireland Christian Teaching ‘Indoctrination’
The UK Supreme Court has ruled that the Christian-focused model of religious education (RE) in Northern Ireland’s schools is unlawful, concluding that the current system fails to meet the requirement that teaching be “objective, critical and pluralistic.” The judgment follows a legal challenge brought by an unnamed father and his daughter, who attended a state-controlled primary school in Belfast. The girl had received Christian religious educat…
Religious education in Northern Ireland schools breaches human rights, Supreme Court rules
The UK's highest court upheld an appeal and reinstated an earlier court ruling that the teaching of RE and collective worship in the country breaches human rights, as it does not approach the subject in an "objective, critical and pluralist manner".
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