Double standards? veils and crucifixes in the European legal order

Abstract

Comparing the treatment of Islamic veils and Christian crucifixes by the European Court of Human Rights, this paper re-examines the charge of double standards on the part of this guardian of the European legal order, which is seen as disadvantaging Islam and favoring Christianity. While this is proved partially correct, the paper calls for a more differentiated treatment of the issue. For one, there is a modicum of consistency in the European Court's decisions, because they are all meant to further pluralism. Only, Islam and Christianity fare differently in this respect, as threat to and affirmation of pluralism, respectively. This distinction hinges on Islam's compatibility with the liberal-secular order, on which the jury is out. A possible way out of the pluralism v. pluralism dilemma, I argue, is signaled in the European Court's recent decision in Lautsi v. Italy (2011), which pairs a preference for culturalized Christianity with robust minority pluralism. Copyright © A.E.S. 2013 Â.