ABSTRACT
Over recent decades, two important debates have echoed each other in Western European countries. The first argument, which is quite ancient, touches upon the place of religious principles in a legal system and their distinction from (state) law. The second discussion, of more recent origin, pertains to the ‘integration’ of minorities through recognition of their distinct religious normative orders. Despite fundamental differences, both discourses share many interesting meeting points and raise important issues. Some of these matters, which only become more complex when one tries to translate religious normative principles into state law, will be the watermarks in this chapter.
