Publication date:
On Friday 17 October the Attorney General hosted a colloquium on the interplay between law and religious freedom.
The colloquium was opened by Anne Power-Forde, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights (2008-2014) who gave a presentation on religious freedom in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights.
The Attorney General then spoke about the interplay between the state and believers, both as individual believers but also, corporately, as congregated in Churches and other assemblies.
This was followed by a discussion facilitated by a diverse and expert panel including Paul Givan MLA, Chairman of the Justice Committee; Professor Stephen Williams, Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological College in Belfast; Dr Katy Radford, senior researcher at the Institute for Conflict Research; and Father Tim Bartlett, Catholic Commission on Social Affairs.
The Attorney General, speaking after the colloquium, said:
“This was a most successful event bringing together judges, legislators, clergy, academics and policymakers. The issue of religious freedom is one of the most important facing citizens as believers across the world, and I am delighted that we had such valuable exchanges. I am very grateful to our panel members and to Judge Power-Forde in particular for their memorable and important contributions.”