Contenuti per la categoria: Istruzione pubblica e IRC

Parents-children Relationship: The Role of Freedom of Religion and Conscience

ABSTRACT: This article analyses the most recent case law concerning the role of freedom of religion and conscience in the parents-children relationship. There are essentially two disputed issues: first, to what extend the increased capacity for choice of the child may conflict with the educational role of parents; second, in which way to promote the development of the child in an open and peaceful environment, reconciling the rights of his parents.

SOMMARIO: 1. Notazioni preliminari - 2. Le divergenze tra i genitori sulla scelta dell’insegnamento della religione cattolica - 3. Le divergenze tra i genitori sulla scelta tra scuola pubblica o privata confessionale - 4. L’interesse “superiore” del minore a un ambiente aperto e pacifico e il dubbio del perpetuarsi di una discriminazione religiosa dei genitori appartenenti a minoranze confessionali - 5. I rischi di una crescita di interesse per l’homeschooling determinata dall’esigenza di un pieno controllo educativo dei genitori sui figli minori - 6. Libertà religiosa dei genitori e tutela della salute del minore - 7. Beni relazionali, interesse del minore e libertà educativa dei genitori.

About the Modification of the Choice to Attend or not Attend Teaching of Catholic Religion. A School Point of View

ABSTRACT: A recent judgement of the Judicial Administration has authorized the free modification of the choice to attend or not attend teaching of Catholic Religion in Italian schools, against the Concordat between Italian Republic and Holy See. The article discusses the judgement formally (highlighting a lack of jurisdiction) and on the substance (a confusion between a cultural and a cultic meaning of the teaching). In addition to institutional relations between State and Church, there are epistemological consequences on the nature of the same teaching.

SOMMARIO: 1. Attualità del problema - 2. La normativa sulle iscrizioni e la scelta di avvalersi o non avvalersi dell’insegnamento della religione cattolica (Irc) - 3. Il caso in giudizio - 4. Sul difetto di giurisdizione - 5. Le motivazioni della sentenza: il richiamo alla libertà di culto - 6. Un Irc culturale o cultuale? - 7. Un bilanciamento poco equilibrato - 8. L’Irc come disciplina scolastica - 9. In attesa di revisioni.

La segregazione etnico-religiosa nel sistema educativo in Irlanda del Nord *

Ethnic-religious segregation in the education system of Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT: After many years of conflict, Northern Ireland still appears today as a deeply divided society that bears the marks of centuries of ethnic hostility with a strong religious connotation. The context in which, more than any other, the segregationist tension between the two communities, Protestant and Catholic, is still clearly perceivable is the education system, which is characterized by a significant separation of students according to their religious affiliation. The paper aims at reconstructing the origins and outlining the focal points of such an education system, which was recently brought to the attention of the Northern Ireland Supreme Court, with reference to discrimination against students belonging to other religions or beliefs.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa - 2. Le origini del conflitto politico-religioso - 3. Le persistenti difficoltà politiche e le ricadute sui rapporti interconfessionali - 4. La segregazione scolastica - 5. Profili di discriminazione religiosa nell’accesso alla scuola - 6. La discriminazione nell’insegnamento della religione: la recente pronuncia della High Court of Justice of Northern Ireland - 7. Conclusioni.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. Il Primo emendamento e le garanzie gemelle dell’Establishment Clause e del Free Exercise Clause: una panoramica ricostruttiva - 2.1. I tre principali test utilizzati dalla Corte in sede di judicial review e basati sul Primo emendamento: il Lemon test, l’Endorsement test e il Coercion test - 2.2. La recente sentenza Kennedy v. Bremerton School Dist. del 27 luglio 2022: l’abbandono (definitivo) del Lemon test in favore del criterio ermeneutico orientato alla “history and tradition” - 3. Le origini e la mobilitazione politica del motto degli Stati Uniti d’America - 3.1. Il XVIII secolo, la Rivoluzione americana e la diffusione del motto “E Pluribus Unum” - 3.2. Il XIX secolo e la Guerra Civile: la giustapposizione di “In God We Trust” accanto a “E Pluribus Unum” - 3.3. Il XX secolo e la Guerra fredda: “In God We Trust” diventa (l’unico) motto nazionale - 3.4. I diversi usi del motto nazionale lungo il dispiegarsi della storia - 4. Le caratteristiche dell’American civil religion e le sue ambivalenze - 5. Il motto nazionale in alcuni significativi obiter della Corte suprema: il deismo cerimoniale e le sue critiche - 5.1. Il deismo cerimoniale in alcune pronunce della Corte suprema - 5.2. Le riflessioni (preoccupate) della dottrina - 6. Riflessioni conclusive e spunti di comparazione - 6.1. L’uso della storia e della cultura nell’ordinamento italiano: cenni di comparazione sull’insegnamento della religione cattolica e sull’esposizione del crocifisso a scuola - 6.2. L’altro verso dell’American civil religion: ideologia e populismo.

The U.S. motto "In God We Trust" in light of the history and tradition “of the First Amendment

ABSTRACT: This essay reflects upon the U.S. national motto “In God We Trust” and religious liberty. It describes the birth and the life of the U.S. national motto from an historical and a normative perspective, and in relation with three crucial events that forged the United States’ historical conscience: the American Revolution, the Civil War, and the Cold War. It highlights how the motto has embraced different purposes and meanings, as well as attained varying levels of religiosity. After having introduced the main features of American civil religion, the paper pays attention to the various obiter that the Supreme Court has offered about the constitutionality of this symbol. The conclusions focus on two aspects: a brief comparison with the Italian legal system, which underlines the existing similarities between the “history and tradition” argument fostered by the U.S. Supreme Court and the appeal to the “historical heritage” and the “religious culture” that can be found in the Italian legal and political debates on the display of the crucifix in the classroom and the teaching of the Catholic religion. Secondly, they reflect about the ideological and illiberal turn that the American civil religion may take.

SOMMARIO: 1. La direttiva 1999/70/CE del Consiglio del 28 giugno 1999 relativa all’accordo quadro CES, UNICE e CEEP sul lavoro a tempo determinato e i meccanismi di definizione della politica sociale europea - 2. Cenni sulla disciplina generale del rapporto di lavoro a tempo determinato risultante dal decreto legislativo 6 settembre 2001, n. 368, attuativo della direttiva 1999/70/CE, e dal decreto legislativo 15 giugno 2015, n. 81 - 3. La posizione ricoperta dall’insegnante di religione nell’ambito dell’ordinamento del personale docente della scuola - 4. La vertenza riguardante gli insegnanti di religione cattolica e le questioni pregiudiziali sottoposte alla Corte di giustizia - 5. L’eventuale incidenza dell’impegno dell’Unione a salvaguardare lo status previsto per le confessioni religiose dal diritto nazionale (art. 17 TFUE) - 6. La tutela antidiscriminatoria degli insegnanti di religione: a) l’assenza di una discriminazione per motivi di religione rispetto alla posizione degli altri supplenti della scuola pubblica - 7. (segue) b) L’inapplicabilità della clausola 4 dell’Accordo quadro - 8. La prevenzione degli abusi della successione dei contratti a tempo determinato per gli insegnanti di religione: in particolare le “ragioni obiettive” che possono giustificare il rinnovo - 9. Conclusioni.

The Employment Relationship of Religious Education Teachers in Italian State Schools before the Court of Justice of the European Union

ABSTRACT: The Italian legislation excludes the transformation of successive fixed-term contracts into contracts of indefinite duration in the teaching sector. This also applies to Catholic religious education teachers. The present paper analyses the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-282/19, which dealt with the issue of the compatibility of such a rule with the framework agreement on fixed-term work concluded by ETUC, UNICE and CEEP (annexed to Council Directive 1999/70/EC of 28 June 1999) and with the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion (Article 21 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000). According to the Author, the Court’s final indication for the referring court, to verify whether an interpretation of the national provisions which is consistent with the framework agreement is possible, is not easily practicable, because the “obligation on a national court to refer to the content of a directive when interpreting and applying the relevant rules of domestic law […] cannot serve as the basis for an interpretation contra legem”, as noted by the Court.

SOMMARIO: 1. Premessa generale: il quadro normativo di riferimento - 2. Un’intesa particolare - 3. La certificazione dell’idoneità diocesana - 4. La riserva dei posti messi a bando - 5. Il programma d’esame - 6. La composizione delle commissioni giudicatrici - 7. Conclusioni.

A particular agreement: procedural elements not agreed upon next contest for teachers of the Catholic religion

ABSTRACT: This paper aims to examine the agreement signed on December 14, 2020 between the Minister of Education and the President of the Italian Bishops’ as an act prior to a contest for teachers of the Catholic religion. In light of the previous agreements and some specific studies, the author attempts to highlight how some elements of State competence have merged into a procedural act, wondering if this represents an overrun of the respective prerogatives.

SOMMARIO: 1. La giusta presa di distanza da paradigmi di approccio dello Stato verso l’esperienza religiosa estranei al nostro modello costituzionale di diritto ecclesiastico - 2. L’esclusione del carattere discriminatorio del provvedimento adottato dal dirigente scolastico - 3. Il principio di laicità e l’interpretazione conforme a Costituzione dell’art. 118 del r.d. 30 aprile 1924, n. 965 - 4. L’ipotesi di una “incompletezza” della norma regolamentare in rapporto alle diverse esperienze e convinzioni di fede ridefinite in una dimensione prettamente storico-culturale - 5. I residui profili di peculiare rilevanza del crocifisso rispetto agli altri simboli religiosi - 6. Le competenze degli organi di autonomia scolastica in tema di esposizione dei simboli religiosi e la composizione dei conflitti affidata agli “accomodamenti ragionevoli” - 7. Brevi notazioni conclusive.

Crucifix “by Choice”. From Compulsory to Optional Display of Crucifixes in Italian Classrooms (Some Remarks on the Decision September 9th, 2021, no. 24414 of the United Sections of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation)

ABSTRACT: This article analyzes the decision September 9th, 2021, no. 24414, of the United Sections of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation, concerning the display of the crucifix in the classrooms. The Court has ruled that the presence of the crucifix on the wall does not discriminate against anyone. However, not the government authorities, but the students during an Assembly and the Class council must decide if display the crucifix and if eventually place other religious symbols next to it, seeking “reasonable accommodation” between the different positions of people in the school community.

SOMMARIO - 1. Il crocifisso in classe davanti alle Sezioni Unite - 2. Laicità dello Stato e autonomia scolastica - 3. Conflitto tra diritti e reasonable accommodation - 4. La regola della reasonable accommodation nella giurisprudenza straniera e italiana - 5. Il crocifisso come simbolo “essenzialmente passivo” nella giurisprudenza europea - 6. Reasonable accommodation in assenza di una lesione di diritti: rilievi critici - 7. Bilanciamento dei diritti e legislazione scolastica - 8. Il rapporto asimmetrico tra docente e alunni nella scuola: un dato del tutto omesso - 9. La rimozione del crocifisso da parte del docente: un atto lecito? Osservazioni conclusive.

The Supreme Court’s United Sections on the Crucifix controversy in schools: searching for a difficult balance between laicism and European case-law

ABSTRACT: This paper examines critically, in the light of the Italian and European case-law, the contents and the juridical arguments of a recent decision issued by the United Sections of the Italian Court of Cassation concerning the Crucifix controversy arisen in a State school. The judges established, on one hand, that the crucifix may be hung in a classroom upon demand of the students as it does not infringe the dissenting teacher’s freedom of conscience or of teaching, according to Lautsi ECHR decision (2011); on the other hand, the clash of values involved would need a reasonable accommodation which could require other religious symbols alongside the crucifix or its removal during the lessons of the dissenting teacher. Such a decision, according to the author, appears to be somewhat contradictory and ambiguous, and it does not resolve the case in a well-balanced way.

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduzione - 2. La decisione (in sintesi): una soluzione subottimale - 3. Il ruolo determinante del principio supremo di laicità - 4. Laicità sostanziale, laicità procedurale, accomodamento ragionevole - 5. Discriminazione diretta e indiretta - 6. Conclusioni.

The crucifix ‘accommodated’. Considerations at first reading of the judgment no. 24414/2021 by the United Sections of the Italian Supreme Court of cassation

ABSTRACT: With decision no. 24414/2021 the United Sections of the Italian Supreme Court of cassation have provided an unprecedented solution to the issue of religious symbols in the classrooms of public schools. In this essay the author analyses the judgment, focusing in particular on three aspects: the relationship between the so-called ‘Italian principle of secularism’ and the reasonable accommodation; the existence or not of discrimination against the teacher who has been obliged to teach under the crucifix; the practical ways in which this ruling can become 'living law' in the Italian legal system.

SOMMARIO: 1. Quadro normativo - 2. Ragionevole accomodamento - 3. Procedimento e soluzioni - 4. Inconvenienti di fatto e prospettive - Appendice.

From the “crucifix of State” to the “crucifix of class” (note in margin of Cassation 2021 sept. 9, n. 24414).

ABSTRACT: The display of a crucifix in the classrooms is a request furniture by students. In case of dissent by other students or by teachers the headteacher has to search for a mediation, namely a reasonable accomodation, among the conflicting opinions.