Religious education in Northern Ireland is in breach of human rights legislation and is unlawful, the UK Supreme Court has ruled.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, the court unanimously upheld an appeal brought by a pupil – known as JR87 – at a Belfast primary school and her father.
It followed a ruling by the High Court in Belfast in 2022 that religious education and Christian worship were not conveyed in an “objective, critical and pluralistic manner” and therefore breached the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Northern Ireland Department of Education subsequently won an appeal against part of that judgment, but this cross-appeal was unanimously dismissed by the Supreme Court and the High Court’s decision reinstated.
JR87’s solicitor, Darragh Mackin of Phoenix Law, said it was a “watershed moment for educational rights” in Northern Ireland.
“The Supreme Court has confirmed that all children are entitled to an education that respects their freedom of thought, conscience, and religion,” he said.
“The judgment makes clear that the state cannot rely on withdrawal mechanisms to justify religious instruction,” he said.
“Schools must not place children in the impossible position of being singled out or stigmatised simply because their families do not share the religious worldview embedded in the curriculum.”
Mr Mackin said there was now a “clear responsibility” on the Department of Education to review and its reform its religious education curriculum to make it both human rights compliant and reflective of the North’s diversity.
[ North’s Minister of Education asked to ‘explain actions’ over contentious trip to IsraelOpens in new window ]
Boyd Sleator, the Northern Ireland co-ordinator for Humanists UK, said the judgment was a “historic win for the rights of children” and the ruling should prompt governments across the devolved nations of the UK “to revisit the requirement for mandatory collective worship, we hope it is now repealed.”
The Department of Education has been approached for comment.
The religious education curriculum in Northern Ireland was developed by the department and the four main Christian churches.
At primary school, the curriculum is exclusively focused on Christianity, with pupils only taught about other world religions at post-primary level.
The child and her father, who are not named, sought a judicial review after she took part in non-denominational Christian religious education and collective worship as part of the curriculum at a primary school in Belfast.
Her parents “did not wish her to be taught that Christianity was an absolute truth” and wrote to the school in 2019 voicing concerns that their daughter’s education “did not appear to conform with their own religious and philosophical convictions.”
Delivering the Supreme Court judgment on behalf of five law lords on Wednesday, Lord Justice Stephens said the Court of Appeal had upheld the High Court finding that religious education and collective worship “were not conveyed in an objective, critical and pluralistic manner”.
However, the Court of Appeal “held that the existence of the parents’ unqualified statutory right to withdraw JR meant the state was not pursuing the forbidden aim of indoctrination” and it “very much doubted the fears of stigmatisation … would have been realised in practice” and therefore the department’s appeal was allowed.
This interpretation was unanimously rejected by the Supreme Court, which found the Court of Appeal “should not have departed from Mr Justice Colton’s finding that the parents had valid concerns in relation to withdrawing JR87 from religious education and collective worship.”
These included that JR87, who was then aged between four and seven years old, would have been the only child in the school to be withdrawn from religious education and collective worship.
Lord Justice Stephens said the Court of Appeal “fell into error in making a distinction between indoctrination and the state conveying informational knowledge in a manner which was not objective, critical and pluralistic.”
He said the concepts “are two sides of the same coin” and amounted to “pursuing the aim of indoctrination.”
[ Dundalk IT to become university college of Queen’s Belfast in ‘landmark’ partnershipOpens in new window ]
The senior judge said the High Court judge had been “correct” to find both JR87 and her father’s human rights have been breached.
In that High Court judgment, delivered in 2022, Mr Justice Colton said a “reconsideration of the core curriculum” and legislation regarding the teaching of religious education was required, and noted that the matter was “currently under review.”
Teaching of religion and Christian worship in schools should be made compliant with the relevant provisions of the ECHR, the judge said.
