Crucifixes can be displayed in EU schools

Crucifixes can be displayed in EU schools

Crucifixes can be displayed in school classrooms across the European Union, the Court of Human Rights has ruled.

The ruling will be binding on all 47 countries that are members of the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights watchdog Photo: PA

By Henry Samuel, Paris 6:32PM GMT 18 Mar 2011

The decision overturned a previous ruling that the crucifix could breach the rights of non-Catholic pupils.

The case was initially brought in Italy by Soile Lautsi, a Finnish-born mother whose two children attended a state school near Venice and objected to crucifixes being present in every classroom.

She complained to the school but when the headmaster refused to remove the crosses, she launched a protracted legal battle which ended up in the court in Strasbourg, eastern France.

The Italian government had argued that the crucifix was a national symbol of culture, history and identity, tolerance and secularism.

In November 2009, judges sided with Mrs Lautsi, ruling that the presence of religious symbols violated the children's right to secular education and to "freedom of thought, conscience and religion".

The judgment said the crucifix in the classroom "could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion". This drew an angry response from Italy, which appealed.

In Friday's final ruling, the court decided that "while the crucifix was above all a religious symbol, there was no evidence before the court that the display of such a symbol on classroom walls might have an influence on pupils".

The ruling will be binding on all 47 countries that are members of the Council of Europe, the continent's human rights watchdog.
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