The constitution protects religious freedom, and other laws and policies contributed to the generally free practice of religion. There are two established state churches, the Church of England (Anglican) and the Church of Scotland (Presbyterian). Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland do not have “official” religions. The 1921 Church of Scotland Act reorganized the church as Scotland’s national church based on a Presbyterian system, but it is not dependent on any government body or the queen for spiritual matters or leadership.
The monarch appoints Church of England officials on the advice of the prime minister and the Crown Appointments Commission, which includes lay and clergy representatives. The General Convention of the Church of Scotland appoints its own office bearers, and its affairs are not subject to any civil authority. The monarch becomes a subject of the Church of Scotland when she crosses the border into Scotland. The Church in Wales, the Scottish Episcopal Church, and the Church of Ireland are members of the Anglican Communion.
In October the leaders of 16 Commonwealth countries agreed to change the 1689 Bill of Rights and the 1701 Act of Settlement, which forbade any Catholic, or person married to a Catholic, from becoming monarch. However, the monarch remains the “Supreme Governor” of the Church of England and must always be a member of and promise to uphold the church.
Sharia (Islamic law) is managed by Sharia councils that have operated parallel to the national legal system since 1982. The councils deal only with civil cases, have no legal powers, and may only rule in areas such as dispute mediation, marriage, and finance in ways that do not contradict the law and with the consent of both parties. However, critics, including the Iranian and Kurdish Women’s Rights Organization and the Muslim Women’s Network-UK, claim the male-dominated councils discriminated against women in their judgments. Baroness Caroline Cox, a member of the House of Lords, introduced a bill during the year to regulate Sharia organizations. The legislation was pending at year’s end. Sharia law rarely is used in Northern Ireland, and in Scotland it has been employed solely in private mediation upon the agreement of both parties.
The Racial and Religious Hatred Act of 2006 (legislation that covers England and Wales) prohibits “incitement to religious hatred” and defines “religious hatred” as hatred of a group that may be determined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief. The law does not define religion or what constitutes a religious belief but leaves that determination to the courts. Offenses under the law must be threatening and intended to stir up religious hatred based on the following criteria: the use of words, behavior, or display of written material; publishing or distributing written material; the public performance of a play; distributing, showing, or playing a recording; broadcasting or including a program in a program service; or the possession of written materials or recordings with a view to display, publish, distribute, or include them in a program service. The law does not apply to words or behaviors expressed inside a private dwelling or to criticism or dislike of a religious belief. The maximum penalty for inciting religious hatred is seven years in prison. Those convicted of “religiously aggravated offenses” (where there is evidence of religious hostility in connection with a crime) face higher maximum penalties.
The law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of “religion or belief” or the “lack of religion or belief.” The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) was established in 2006 and is responsible for promoting equality, diversity, and the elimination of unlawful discrimination and harassment. The EHRC received public funds but is independent of the government. From October 2007, when the commission’s legal enforcement team began work, until 2010 (the most recent statistics available), the enforcement team has intervened in approximately 592 cases. About half of those were concluded through arbitration or by other means. Some of the remaining cases were pending hearing dates or judgments from the courts at year’s end.
The EHRC has powers to investigate unlawful acts of discrimination and can bring legal proceedings against violators of the law. In October the new Equality Act came into force, combining 116 separate pieces of legislation into one act and preserving the EHRC. In Scotland the EHRC covers only human rights matters reserved for parliament and major government ministries. Human rights for matters “devolved” to the Scottish parliament are covered by the Scottish Human Rights Commission. The Equality Act allows the EHRC to cover devolved matters if it has the agreement of the Scottish commission.
In Northern Ireland religious discrimination in employment has been illegal since 1976 and discrimination in provision of goods and services since 1998. This, and all other equality legislation, is supervised by the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, which has powers similar to those of the EHRC.
In Northern Ireland the Fair Employment Act bans employment discrimination on the grounds of religious or political opinion. A broad network of laws, regulations, and oversight bodies serves to ensure there is equal opportunity for employees of all religious groups. All public sector employers and all private firms with more than 10 employees must report annually to the Equality Commission on the religious composition of their workforces and must review their employment practices every three years. Noncompliance may result in criminal penalties and the loss of government contracts. Victims of employment discrimination may sue for damages. The law stipulates that all public authorities must show due regard for the need to promote equality of opportunity, including on the basis of religious belief. Each public authority must report its plans to promote equality to the Equality Commission, which is to review such plans every five years. In the rest of the country, the law prohibits employment discrimination based on religious belief, except where there is a “genuine occupational requirement” of a religious nature.
Religiously motivated hate language is prosecuted under the Public Order Act and the 2006 Racial and Religious Hatred Act, which the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) applies to demonstrations where insulting and abusive language is used about religion.
Citing a limited broadcast spectrum, the government continued to prohibit religious groups from holding a national sound broadcasting license, a public teletext license, more than one television service license, and radio and television multiplex licenses.
In Scotland the Crime and Disorder Act of 1998 and the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act of 2003 cover bias based on race or religion as aggravating factors in criminal prosecutions. The laws require courts to consider the impact these factors had on the crime in the sentencing process. The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act of 2010 also has been used in prosecuting criminals who have been deemed to have shown sectarian behavior. The Scottish government also brought the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Bill before the Scottish Parliament to attempt to regulate the prevalent sectarian, religiously aggravated violence that drew significant media attention. The Scottish Parliament passed the bill on December 14, and it was awaiting royal assent at year’s end.
The law requires religious education for all children between the ages of three and nineteen in publicly maintained schools; however, the shape and content of religious instruction throughout the country is decided on a local basis. Locally agreed-upon syllabi are required to reflect the predominant place of Christianity while taking into account the teachings and practices of other principal religious groups in the country. Syllabi must be nondenominational and refrain from attempting to convert pupils. Schools with a religious designation follow a syllabus drawn up by the school governors according to the trust deed of the school. All parents have the legal right to request that their children not participate in religious education.
The government does not mandate uniforms for students. Instead, each school determines its own uniform policy. The government’s guidance on school uniforms notes that schools are required to consider the needs of different cultures, races, and religions in their uniform policy and must not discriminate on the grounds of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, or belief.
Daily collective prayer or worship of “a wholly or mainly…Christian character” is practiced in schools in England and Wales, a requirement that may be waived for students who obtain permission of the school authorities. The law permits sixth form students (generally 16-to-19-year-olds in the final two years of secondary school) to withdraw themselves from worship without their parents’ permission or action. This law does not exempt sixth form students from religious education classes. Non-Christian worship is permitted with the approval of the authorities. Teachers have the right not to participate in collective worship, without prejudice, unless they work for a faith-based school.
In Bermuda the law allows collective worship by students but prohibits collective worship at public schools from being “distinctive of any particular religious group.” The law also provides for exceptions to the requirement that pupils in public schools engage in collective worship at least once a week. It gives parents the right to request that their children be excused from such worship and authorizes such pupils to worship elsewhere at the beginning or end of the school day. Homeschooling is an approved alternative for religious or other reasons. Some Jewish representatives in Bermuda claimed that bringing up children in a country where Christian prayers are said in both public and most private schools is a challenge.
As of year’s end, there were approximately 7,000 state-funded “faith schools” in England. These schools teach religious education or have formal links with religious organizations, but they also must follow the national curriculum and are inspected by the Office for Standards in Children’s Services and Skills, the national schools inspection body commonly referred to as Ofsted. Of these faith schools, 4,606 are associated with the Church of England, 1,985 are Roman Catholic, 138 are “other Christian,” and 26 are Methodist. There are also 42 Jewish schools, 12 Muslim schools, three Sikh schools, and one each for Greek Orthodox, Hindu, Quaker, and United Reformed Church students. There are also 218 registered “faith academies,” which are primarily schools for religious education. All are Christian academies except for five Jewish schools, one Muslim school, and one Sikh school. In the independent sector (the equivalent of private schools in the United States), there are 2,400 schools that do not receive state funding, and about half of them have a faith element. Of these, 842 are Christian, 139 are Muslim, 46 are Jewish, two are Hindu, one is Buddhist, and one is Sikh. According to the Mosques and Imams National Advisory Board, there are approximately 2,000 official madrassahs in the country.
According to the Scottish government, Scotland has 377 state-funded faith schools: 373 Catholic, one Jewish, and three Episcopalian.
Almost all schools in Northern Ireland receive state support, with 93.5 percent of the students attending schools that were either predominantly state-run Protestant or Catholic. Religiously balanced integrated schools, which serve an estimated 7 percent of school-age children whose families voluntarily choose this option, have to demonstrate sustainability for three years before government funding begins. Demand for placement in integrated schools outweighed the limited number available. There were more than 60 integrated schools, and the government permits existing schools to petition to change from state-run or Catholic to integrated status; however, more schools petition for that status than are granted it.
Immigration regulations require visa applicants who wish to enter the country as “ministers of religion” (a legal term used for visas) to demonstrate a level-four competence in spoken English on the International English Language Testing System. When applying for visas, ministers of religion must have worked for at least one year out of the last five as a minister and have one year of full-time experience or two years of part-time training following their ordination for religious groups where ordination is the sole means of entering the ministry. To obtain an entry visa, a missionary must be trained as such or have worked previously as a missionary.
It is government policy to ensure that public servants are not discriminated against on the basis of religious beliefs and to accommodate religious practices by government employees whenever possible. For example, the Prison Service permits Muslim employees to take time off during their shifts to pray. It also provides prisoners with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim chaplains. The military generally provides adherents of minority religious groups with chaplains of their faith. The Chaplaincy Council monitors policy and practice relating to such matters.
The government observes the following religious holidays as national holidays: Good Friday, Easter Monday, and Christmas.