The Responsibility of Educational Administrations for the Removal of Religious Symbols
by David Katz Rotnitzky
Question(s) at stake
1) Whether the display of crucifixes in a public school is contrary to neutrality. 2) Whether the public authorities are responsible for the removal of crucifixes in public schools.
Outcome of the ruling
The Court upheld the contested administrative action brought by the Association of Parents of Pupils of the Public School of San Benito against the decision of the Director General of Educational Centres of 20 May 1999 on the grounds that it is for the educational administration, and not the school board, to decide whether or not to maintain symbols of a particular religion or ideology in public schools, regardless of whether or not its decision is in accordance with the criteria of the governing bodies of each school on this specific issue.
Country:
Official citation
High Court of Justice Madrid, Judgment of 15 October 2002, no. 1105/2002 (Tribunal Superior de Justicia Madrid, Sentencia de 15 de octubre de 2002, Sentencia número 1105/2002)
Topic(s)
Keywords:
Crucifix Freedom of thought, conscience and religion Static religious symbols Right of parents to ensure the religious and moral education of their children State neutrality
Tag(s):
Active and passive religious symbols Positive and negative religious freedom Indoctrination
Bibliographic information
Access case report
View case report in the CUREDI databaseAbout the authors
David Katz Rotnitzky (Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Department Law and Anthropology, Germany)
David Katz is a PhD Candidate in the Law & Anthropology Department at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology in Halle. He holds a bachelor’s degree in social and cultural anthropology from the University of Barcelona (Spain), and was awarded the European Master’s Degree in Human Rights and Democratization by the European Inter University Centre in Venice (Italy), for which he spent a semester at the UNESCO Chair on Education for Human Rights, Democracy and Peace at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece). In his master’s thesis, “Deconstructing the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief in Human Rights: A Multidisciplinary Approach on Antisemitism towards the Jewish Community of Thessaloniki”, he analysed the right to freedom of religion and belief and the correlation between the inherent antisemitism in some spheres of Greek society and the limits on the enjoyment of religious rights by the Jewish community of Thessaloniki. His current research falls within the project “Cultural and Religious Diversity under State Law across Europe” (CUREDI).