The FNRR is a recognized research network of the University of Basel

What is the purpose of the Research Network Law and Religion?

Founded at the beginning of 2010 as a research center, the Research Network Law and Religion (FNRR) aims to conduct academic research into the fields of reference that pass between law and religion. It sees itself as an interdisciplinary platform that primarily brings together law and religious studies, but also includes other academic disciplines such as sociology, ethnology, philosophy and history. Not only theoretical questions are dealt with. Rather, the research network's work also aims to contribute to overcoming practical problems. In Switzerland, the adoption of the popular initiative to ban the construction of minarets in November 2009 at the latest has forced a comprehensive reflection on the relationship between law and religion.

How does the Research Network Law and Religion work?

The research network carries out research projects and organizes academic conferences. It also ensures the publication of research findings and conference papers. Where possible, it also accepts counseling and expert opinion mandates.
The research network, which operates as part of the University of Basel, works in an interdisciplinary network and with the special involvement of mid-level academic staff. It is pending for cooperation with researchers from other universities as well as with partners from the non-university environment.

What are the focal areas of the Law and Religion Research Network?

Among other things:

• Law and religion in a multi-religious, sometimes even areligious society
• Religion in the constitutional state: freedom of religion and the relationship between the state and religious communities
• Law and religion in a historical dimension
• Law and religion in an international context

Prof. Dr. iur. Felix Hafner,
Prof. Dr. iur. Anne Kühler,
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mohn,
Prof. Dr. iur. Bijan Fateh-Moghadam,
Prof. Dr. Denise Buser, em,
Prof. Dr. David Atwood,
Dr. Anne Beutter

Cooperation partner: Prof. Dr. iur. Andreas Stöckli

2023

Rousseau Lectures 2023
Populism as a challenge for (direct) democracy and the rule of law
01.-02.06.2023, Faculty of Law Basel

organized by the Swiss Association for Legal and Social Philosophy (SVRSP), the professorship for Foundations of Law and Life Sciences Law (Basel), the Research Network Law and Religion (Basel) and the doctoral program "Law in Transition" (Basel)

Details and program

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2022

Annual Conference of the Swiss Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (SVRS):

"Religious Tolerance"
19.-20.05.2022, Bern

organized by the Swiss Association for Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (SVRSP) and the Interfaculty Research Cooperation (IFK) Religious Conflicts and Coping Strategies

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2021: Engelberg Seminar: "Freedom, Religion and Law. On the genealogy and problems of so-called post-secular societies"
18.-November 20, Engelberg Monastery

The annual block seminar on law and religion of Religious Studies Basel, together with jurisprudential colleagues, took place in spring 2021 on the subject of 'Freedom, Religion and Law'.

Lecturers: Dr. des. David Atwood, Prof. Jürgen Mohn, Prof. Dr. Bijan Fateh-Moghadam, Prof. Dr. Felix Hafner, MA Paloma Braun

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2021: Panel: "Constellations and Research Approaches to Religion(s) and Law - A Workshop Discussion".

XXXIV Annual Conference of the DVRW 2021- Religion in Relation, German Association for Religious Studies, online (Leipzig), 2021 (Co-organized by Dr. des. Anne Beutter, with Dr. des. Markus Vollert (Halle/Leipzig))

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2020: Publication: "Law, religion and the world of work"

The volume on the conference "Law, Religion and the World of Work" organized by the FNRR was published by DIKE Verlag in 2020: Andreas Stöckli/Anne Kühler/Felix Hafner/Kurt Pärli (eds.), Recht, Religion und Arbeitswelt, Zurich/St. Gallen 2020. Four FNRR researchers have contributed articles to the volume.

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2019: Engelberg seminar: "Does law need religion?"
7.-November 9, Engelberg Monastery

Lecturers: Dr. des. David Atwood, Prof. Jürgen Mohn, Prof. Dr. Bijan Fateh-Moghadam, Prof. Dr. Felix Hafner, MA Paloma Braun

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2018: Conference: "Law, religion and the world of work"

The conference "Law, Religion and the World of Work" in the event series "Recht aktuell" of the Faculty of Law of the University of Basel took place on 25 January 2018 at the University of Basel (organized by researchers affiliated with the FNRR: Prof. Andreas Stöckli, Prof. Felix Hafner, PD Dr. Anne Kühler).

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2018: Publication: "Quae Caesaris Caesari, quae Dei Deo? Relationships between law and religion in transition. Symposium on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Felix Hafner"

The volume on the symposium on the occasion of Prof. Felix Hafner's 60th birthday was published by DIKE Verlag in 2018:

Anne Kühler, Mirjam Olah, Lenke Wettlaufer (eds.), Quae Caesaris Caesari, quae Dei Deo? Relationships between law and religion in transition. Symposium on the occasion of Felix Hafner's 60th birthday, Zurich/St. Gallen 2018.

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2018: Engelberg Seminar: "Religious Diversity and State Law"
1.-November 3, Engelberg Monastery

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2017: Conference: "Blasphemy"
april 2-4, Leuenberg

In spring 2017, the Department of Religious Studies Basel (Jürgen Mohn, David Atwood) organized the annual faculty conference of the Faculty of Theology on the subject of blasphemy, involving various experts from within (e.g. Andreas Stöckli, Bijan Fateh-Moghadam) and outside the network (e.g. Jean-Pierre Wils, Erik Petry, etc.).

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2015: "The unholy discrimination. On the problem of equality in the field of religion"
Event during the week of religions

with lectures by Prof. Dr. iur. Denise Buser (Basel Faculty of Law) and Dr. theol. Caroline Schröder Field (cathedral pastor)
Moderated by Prof. Dr. iur. Andreas Stöckli (Faculty of Law Basel)

Tuesday, November 3, 2015, 6.30 pm
Theological Seminary of the University of Basel, Nadelberg 10, 4051 Basel

In various religious communities, women are not allowed to hold religious leadership positions. The Roman Catholic Church's code of law, for example, stipulates that only a baptized man can validly receive holy orders. There is not only resistance to this unequal treatment of women in the religious communities. The question also arises as to whether religious communities are bound by the prohibition of discrimination under state law, which restricts their freedom and autonomy in the area of appointments to office. The two speakers will discuss this controversial topic from a legal and a theological perspective.

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2012: Interdependencies of Law and Religion - Systematic Aspects and Theoretical Perspectives
Workshop of the Research Center Law and Religion (FSRR)
8. December 2012, University of Basel, Nadelberg 10

On the subject:
How are law and religion linked? There are various overlaps, conflicts and dependencies between law and religion. These breaks and continuities were examined at the academic workshop organized by the Research Centre for Law and Religion at the University of Basel. The event was theoretically and systematically oriented and focused on a fundamental reflection on the relationship between law and religion from the perspective of law and religious studies as well as the sociology and philosophy of law. It provided an opportunity to discuss the relationship between law and religion as a cross-cutting issue from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Speakers:
Dr. phil. Petra Bleisch Bouzar
Prof. Dr. iur. Denise Buser
PD Dr. jur. Bijan Fateh-Moghadam
Prof. Dr. iur. Felix Hafner
Dr. iur. Anne Kühler, LL.M.
Prof. Dr. iur. can. et lic. theol. Adrian Loretan
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mohn
PD Dr. phil. Astrid Reuter
Prof. Dr. iur. Dr. h.c. Kurt Seelmann

Andreas Stöckli, Anne Kühler, Felix Hafner, Kurt Pärli (eds.), Law, religion and the world of work. Dike Verlag, Zurich/St. Gallen 2020. 400 pages. ISBN: 978-3-03891-247-7

The world of work has become more religiously diverse in recent years. Religious manifestations such as the wearing of certain items of clothing, rituals or holiday regulations can lead to conflicts. This topic is increasingly occupying the courts at home and abroad. This volume addresses these issues from the perspective of European and international law, Swiss constitutional law, labor law and religious law, as well as from an interdisciplinary perspective. It deals equally with employment relationships in the private sector, in the public sector and in religious communities. (Text Dike Verlag)

Anne Kühler, Mirjam Olah, Lenke Wettlaufer (eds.), Quae Caesaris Caesari, quae Dei Deo? The changing relationship between law and religion. Symposium on the occasion of the 60th birthday of Felix Hafner. Dike Verlag, Zurich/St. Gallen 2018. 179 pages. ISBN: 978-3-03891-019-0

Felix Hafner published his habilitation thesis "Churches in the context of fundamental and human rights" in 1992. The central questions on the relationship between law and religion are as relevant today as they were then: What is the relationship between state law and religion? Is it possible to distinguish between the two and to what extent are they related to each other? On the occasion of Felix Hafner's 60th birthday, the editors organized a symposium at which these questions were addressed and discussed from a theoretical and practical perspective.
This volume examines the relationship between law and religion from a legal and religious studies perspective. The contributions deal with the concept of religion and the concept of civil religion in Jean-Jacques Rousseau, with the recognition of credits and grades of religion in Swiss law, with gender equality law and the UN Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), with the so-called "handshake affair" in Therwil, with the "theatricality" of religion in current debates on religious symbols and with the relationship between law and religion under the conditions of Europeanization. (Text Dike Verlag)

Anne Kühler, Felix Hafner, Jürgen Mohn (eds.): Interdependencies of law and religion. Ergon Verlag, Würzburg 2014. 197 pages. ISBN: 978-3-95650-068-8

How are law and religion related to each other and how can their relationship be determined in a pluralistic community? The authors of the contributions collected in this volume do not stop at uncovering what divides and separates them. Rather, they also explore the connections, dependencies and overlaps that pass between law and religion in the "secular", legally constituted community dominated by the paradigm of neutrality. The aim of this volume is to shed light on the interdependencies between law and religion, which have recently become the focus of renewed debate, from an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective. The contributions contain reflections on this relationship from the perspective of law and religious studies, the sociology and philosophy of law and the sociology of religion.

The anthology is a result of the workshop "Interdependencies of Law and Religion - Systematic Aspects and Theoretical Perspectives" held in December 2012 (University of Basel)