ABSTRACT
Bans on the wearing of religious symbols in education are discussed in Chapter 3 as a possible violation of Article 9 ECHR, which guarantees the freedom of thought, conscience and religion and the freedom to manifest one’s religion. The conclusion is that it is very likely that such bans will be taken by the ECtHR as an interference with a person’s right to manifest his or her religion under Article 9(1), but that they will be held to be justifi ed under Article 9(2). The main considerations of the ECtHR on whether this is indeed the case are, fi rstly, whether or not there are alternative ways of manifesting the religion of the person concerned; and, secondly, the way the decisions are made and the extent of the efforts made by the decision-making body to accommodate the religious manifestation within its policies and practices. The same considerations are taken into account by the British courts.
